Results 32,121-32,140 of 46,456 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Emergency Departments Waiting Times (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I am in daily contact, often several times a day, with the most senior members of the HSE, including the CEO and the chief operating officer, as well as with the CEOs of the hospital groups on occasion, the director of the acute hospitals and many others, along with senior members of my own management team. We engage several times a day on the situation in the acute hospitals, as one would...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Emergency Departments Waiting Times (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I agree with the Deputy regarding Bantry Hospital. The Minister of State, Deputy Daly, is due to meet management of the hospital on 2 December. The Deputy is correct that we need to continue to make that hospital busier and to invest more in it, which is our intention. She is also correct that there is a need for more capacity in Cork generally. That is why we are funding a new elective...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cancer Screening Programmes (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: In fairness to the Deputy, we have now reached a position where four Opposition Members have failed to turn up to ask their questions. I do not know where they could be or what is more important than asking the questions they have tabled in the Dáil. The Deputy's question relates to the statistical difference between laboratories vis-à-visthe number of slides reviewed as a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cancer Screening Programmes (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I do not have the report in front of me but I may have some of the material from it. This information was requested by women and their families, and by a number of Deputies, including, principally, the Deputy herself. The report was finalised in September following engagement between the HSE and the 221+ patient support group. The report was prepared by a group of four specialists with...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cancer Screening Programmes (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: Yes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cancer Screening Programmes (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I cannot agree with the Deputy use of words such as "substandard", because I have to base my assessment on the reports and analyses that have been conducted. Dr. Scally found significant failures in Quest Diagnostics and MedLab not informing the scoping inquiry of all the locations used at the earliest opportunities. There were also issues relating to appropriate accreditation, which I...

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceart chun Sláinte), 2019: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after “That” and substitute the following: Dáil Éireann declines to give the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019 a second reading in order to further consider the issues raised in the Bill, to allow for the supporting structures already in place around improving access to healthcare due...

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceart chun Sláinte), 2019: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: The ignorance of referring to it as a hole in the ground is breathtaking.

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceart chun Sláinte), 2019: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I seek the protection of the Acting Chair.

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceart chun Sláinte), 2019: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: Deputy Collins referred to a definition provided by the World Health Organization, WHO. I am sure he and certain of his colleagues also understand its position on women's reproductive rights and the right to choose.

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceart chun Sláinte), 2019: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I am allowed to comment politically in the House as I wish. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I very much appreciate Deputy Harty's intention in bringing it forward. I fully accept his bona fides and I share his ambition, as do all Members, to bring about universal healthcare through Sláintecare. I wish to make clear to the Deputy and the House that I have an...

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceart chun Sláinte), 2019: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: -----rather than inadvertently leading to a diversion of limited resources from other crucial areas. In any informed debate we will need to consider, as I am sure the people would need to consider in the context of a referendum campaign, the profound impact putting any words into our Constitution can have on the workings of this place, on our democratic process. The proposed amendment...

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceart chun Sláinte), 2019: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: Rather than the Minister of the day, the Government of the day or the Oireachtas of the day, including Deputy Mattie McGrath, voting on a budget matter, we could run the risk of judges making decisions on how to allocate health resources. I am not saying I am fully convinced by all these arguments but I am putting them out to highlight the issues we need to tease through in any discussions...

An Bille um an Naoú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Ceart chun Sláinte), 2019: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Health) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: No.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: Ambulance turnaround times provide the time interval from ambulance arrival time at a hospital, to when the ambulance crew declares readiness to accept another call. The performance target for 2019 is that 95% of all ambulances have an interval of less than 60 minutes from arrival at the ED to when the ambulance crew declares readiness to accept another call. As of September 2019, 87.3% of...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Emergency Departments Waiting Times (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: The hospital system is currently operating at close to full capacity. The number of patients attending Emergency Departments continues to increase year on year. HSE figures show that for the first ten months of 2019, the number of patients attending Naas Hospital decreased by 1%, however, the number of attendances of patients over the age of 75 increased by 6% compared to the same period in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Occupational Therapy Waiting Lists (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I acknowledge that the current time to access Occupational Therapy services in North Dublin, and indeed nationally, can be too long and that this may cause anxiety for parents and patients who are seeking to obtain services. The fact that people are waiting too long to access therapy services such as OT is a reflection of the historical under-investment in the primary and community...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Emergency Departments Waiting Times (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: The hospital system is currently operating at close to full capacity. The number of patients attending emergency departments continues to increase year on year. HSE figures show that for the first ten months of 2019, the number of patients attending Galway University Hospital increased by 4.1% and the number of attendances of patients over the age of 75 increased by 7.9% compared to the same...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres Provision (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 54, 344 and 348 together. I am pleased to be able to inform the Deputy that the development of the Primary Care Centres in Arklow and Rathdrum is being progressed. I know that there has been some concern around the development of Arklow Primary Care Centre given the decision by the original preferred bidder not to proceed with the project. However, I am...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Emergency Departments Waiting Times (26 Nov 2019)

Simon Harris: The hospital system is currently operating at close to full capacity. The number of patients attending Emergency Departments continues to increase year on year. HSE figures show that for the first ten months of 2019, the number of patients attending Beaumont Hospital increased by 0.9% and the number of attendances of patients over the age of 75 increased by 7.1% compared to the same period in...