Results 31,281-31,300 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I have just jotted down six questions that have been asked already.

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: All I can promise is I will answer as many questions as the time I am given.

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will answer as many of those questions as I can in the time allowed. The matter of nursing homes and care homes is the burning, pressing issue at the moment and was the focus of this morning's meeting of the Cabinet sub-committee on Covid-19. That sub-committee, which was established over a month ago and is chaired by me, is the task force by which the crucial decisions are made on how we...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I am sure Deputies appreciate that some of their questions are going to be very specific and I may not have the answers to them. I absolutely agree with what Deputies have said, that transparency is really important here. If we want to keep the trust of the people, we need to be transparent, but I would also ask for understanding from Deputies that we do not always know the answers to the...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: We are dealing with all of these things in real time, and it is very challenging.

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will do my very best, a Cheann Comhairle. In regard to care homes - the nursing homes and long-term care residential facilities - it is important to acknowledge that they are homes. These are people's residences. It is where they live. It is not the same as an acute hospital, for example, but there are standards and it is a highly regulated sector. The regulator is the Health...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I wish to endorse the Deputy's comments about the need to protect the health and mental health of our HSE staff. The points he made were very relevant and well made. They are issues I bear in mind every day, knowing so many people who work in our health service at the moment and knowing the pressures they are under. Many of us will have been following the debate around the wearing of...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: That is a good suggestion. It is something we will need to address appropriately and at the right time. We will recognise all of those who have died as a consequence of Covid-19, but particularly those who worked in healthcare and put themselves at risk in the way that such workers do every day. There are death-in-service arrangements in place for healthcare staff who pass away as a result...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: There were pertinent questions there and it will be impossible for me to answer them all in two minutes. It always takes less time to ask a question than to answer it properly. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, might come back to Deputy Kelly on the questions about banks and insurance companies.

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will do my best to answer as many of Deputy Kelly's questions as I can. The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, has informed me that he intends to lay the agreement with the private hospitals before the Dáil. I am not sure when he will be able to do that but that is his intention. On testing, Deputy Shortall said there should be engagement at the highest level of government with...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure of exactly what I said but if I was off-beat or inappropriate-----

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: -----I do apologise. I am happy to clarify. I believe I said there is a large amount of some items available but that there is a shortage of other items, such as gowns. It is not just a case of having supplies in the HSE's warehouses; they must also be distributed to all the different centres and people and then replenished because, obviously, people use them. Systems need to be in place...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: -----the availability of testing kits and systems in which to get people their results. There may be a change in the next few weeks, for example, whereby an antibody test may become available. While no effective antibody test is available at the moment, it may become available next month or the month after - nobody knows for sure - and that would move from a swab test to a blood test....

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I would welcome a written proposal as to how that would work.

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: If I could answer that question in terms of structures, we already have a lot of structures and they are operating effectively. We have the national public health emergency team, there is an expert advisory group, and we have a Cabinet sub-committee, which has access to expertise. Of course I am willing to consider any proposal for an additional structure or task force, but I would have to...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I did not have time to jot down all the Deputy's questions so I ask him to repeat them if I miss any. I absolutely agree that the coronavirus is a national emergency. The Government declared the emergency some time ago, and that emergency exists not just in nursing homes and care homes but also in hospitals and the community. It is a health emergency and an economic emergency, and it could...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I cannot give the Deputy a straight answer to that because I do not know if that is correct. I would have to check the HSE guidelines. I am not sure if that assertion is factually true. It may be correct but I would have to check as to whether it was left to nursing homes to provide their own PPE. My understanding is that the HSE has been providing PPE to private nursing homes. It is my...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: That is an estimate so it is as accurate as any estimate can be, if that answers the Deputy's question. It may be right or it may be wrong. It is an accurate estimate but it is not necessarily what the actual cost will be because we will not know that until the end, when the costs are calculated. The agreement made between the HSE and the Private Hospitals Association was that this would...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: The answer to the question on Apple is No. It is a very disingenuous question and solution. The truth is that whether the State withdraws its appeal or not is irrelevant because Apple is appealing the judgment as well. This will continue to be a matter for the courts for many years, no matter what the Government does. The money has been collected but it is in an escrow account controlled...

Health (Covid-19): Statements (16 Apr 2020)

Leo Varadkar: I will have to revert to the Deputy with the details on that but my understanding is that somebody who works for Ernst & Young has been retained by the HSE. I forget her name but she has been retained by the HSE as a project manager. The view of the CEO of the HSE, Mr. Paul Reid, was that we were asking the scientists and the lab managers to do too much. We were asking the same...