Results 31,221-31,240 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am grateful that the Deputy has at least made a suggestion, but I contend that it is a rather reckless one. If an insurer is unable to provide cover for a particular facility, be it a crèche, a childcare provider or anything else, there may be a good reason for that. There may be a very high risk in insuring it, for a particular reason. For the State to wander in blindly, no...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: It shows exactly why Sinn Féin cannot be trusted by the taxpayer to be in charge of the public purse.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. Following Government approval, the HSE published its service plan for 2020 yesterday. The budget for the HSE next year is €17 billion, the biggest ever budget for our health service, and an increase of more than 6%. While the Deputy rightly points out that we have a growing and ageing population, a 6% increase is more than what is required to meet the resultant...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The reason we do not see the service plan before the budget is that it is not written until the budget is known. One cannot put the cart before the horse.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Everyone writes the service plan after it is known how much funding is available for it. However, I do not disagree with Deputy Pringle. Of course we will have problems and challenges in the health service next year, just as we have had in every previous year, and just as every other country does too. As Deputy Pringle pointed out some of the difficulties we will face next year, it...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I had a chance to read the constitutional amendment Bill introduced by Deputy Harty and we had a chance to discuss it at Cabinet. We were all very much of the view that it should not be dismissed out of hand and that it is something that deserves proper consideration by the committee, as has been proposed, if not in this Dáil then certainly in the next one. I have always had an open...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I understand from where the Deputy is coming. I have an open mind on this but I do not believe that his suggestion is the panacea he may suggest it is. A constitutional right and a court judgment cannot build a hospital that does not exist, hire specialists who are not available or create resources that are not available. The Deputy mentioned that he has included in his terms a caveat such...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I became aware of that case this morning. For many good reasons, I am reluctant to discuss any individual case but I understand the operation has been rescheduled for later this week. I hope it will go ahead. I had the distinct displeasure as a junior doctor of having to ring people and tell them their appointments were cancelled. I remember it well. I am aware of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I thank the Deputy. I am sure I will have an opportunity to speak to all party leaders in the next couple of weeks, as I do regularly. I am conscious, however, that this is not necessarily a matter just for me and the Leader of the Opposition alone. The parties here make up an increasing number of people in the Dáil. If Deputy Howlin is indicating to us that he would be willing to...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: -----or voting with the Government in future confidence motions, I am sure we would have something to talk about then.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I apologise to the Deputy, but I do not have any knowledge of that individual case, so it is impossible for me to comment on it. If he wants to raise it directly with the Minister for Health, I am sure that he will try to provide a reply.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: The HSE service plan provides for an extra 3,000 posts in the health service next year. I am not sure how many of those are going to be clinical nurse specialists, but I will advise the Minister for Health that Deputy Mattie McGrath raised this matter and ask him to reply directly to the Deputy.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: We had a number of questions that I answered earlier regarding insurance. I do not wish to add to that, other than to say that everyone in the House will be aware that the Government does not set the price of insurance, because it is a private market, but we can improve the environment in which the insurance sector operates. One of the big reforms brought in only this week is the...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: No, that is fine.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: From my constituency office, we are not aware, or at least I have not been told by my constituency staff, that there has been any change in the turnaround times for medical cards. If the Deputy can pass on a few examples to me or to the Minister for Health, we will see if there is an issue. I had not heard that there is a problem, but if there is we will check it out.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: My understanding is that the registration is close to 100%. I am sure there are exceptions, however. The issue of insurance is a separate matter. That is the information I have. I am sorry I cannot give the Deputy any more information.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I will ask the Minister for Health to give the Deputy a better explanation. My recollection is that when one takes the number of beds in the round, such as fair deal, transition care, acute and short-stay, there is an increase. I do not have the exact details of that. I will ask the Minister to provide the Deputy with a proper reply.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I am not entirely sure as to what the Deputy is referring, making it difficult to respond. There are procedures within the Protected Disclosures Act which outline how they are managed. First, they are protected which means that the person making any allegation or disclosure cannot be identified, deliberately or inadvertently. Second, we are not allowed to be told about them because they...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: Tá brón orm nach bhfuil aon dáta ann anois ach tá an Bille ag teacht. Is maith liom carbhat an Teachta.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (18 Dec 2019)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot speak for the Minister for Health but I am sure there was engagement. There was certainly engagement from my office with Children’s Health Ireland which manages the children's hospitals. The children's hospitals are particularly busy at the moment because of the respiratory syncytial virus, RSV. As we do not have single rooms in our very old children's hospitals, when a...