Results 35,141-35,160 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question. There have been changes in the Department of Health. Broadly they have been positive. The Department is in a much better position now than it was when I was appointed to office. There is a strong culture of decision making, more openness and more stakeholder engagement. For example, we saw that in respect of the Bill that passed Committee Stage in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I imagine the figure of 24% relates partly to secondments and other issues connected to the fact that the Department scaled up for Covid-19 and then scaled back down again. There have been movements. Some are due to retirement and some people are moving on to other Departments, which is normal. I repeat that the Department of Health is in a much stronger position than it was two and a half...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The figures I have show that the churn in the Department of Health is similar to other Departments. I am not concerned about the numbers who have left. Strong teams have been put in place. There is something for us all to reflect on. As the Deputy will be aware from her time as a Minister of State at the Department, those who work in the Department of Health are on the receiving end of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I simply do not accept the premise. The Deputy states that there is a significant issue in the Department of Health and I am telling her straight that there is not. The Department of Health is in a much more robust and healthy place than it was two and a half years ago.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Am I concerned about it? I am not

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I have addressed the numbers several times now.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I am telling the Deputy that according to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, the figures in the Department of Health are matched in other Departments. If what the Deputy is saying is true, it is true across the Civil Service. As I said, I have no doubt some of it is down to people who were on secondment because of Covid-19 and have left....

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cancer Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I acknowledge that the current situation for cancer services and the location of those at University Hospital Kerry is not sustainable and is not what anybody wants to see. I visited the hospital just last month and discussed this with the senior management in the hospital. The priority is that every patient in Kerry receives the best possible care in the right environment. The solution to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cancer Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We need to get this sorted as quickly as possible. The new unit is going to make a big difference. It will have 14-day treatment cubicles, two treatment isolation rooms and seven outpatient consultation rooms, so it is going to make a big difference in terms of the experience that patients have and, indeed, that clinicians have in providing what is world-class oncology treatment to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cancer Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We are looking at modular builds. My view is that the capital process is not working; the capital process is broken. There are internal processes within the HSE and processes between the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. There are far too many layers and far too many people who can say “No” who need...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Medicinal Products (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his question. He will be aware that I secured funding of €1.3 million in budget 2023 to provide reimbursement support for Cariban, which I think is at the heart of his question. Cariban has been available since the beginning of the year for women suffering from hyperemesis, which is a severe form of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy that affects about 1% of...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Medicinal Products (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I will get the Deputy a detailed note to ensure this information is correct. My understanding is that once a woman has a prescription from her obstetrician that the repeat prescriptions can then be filled by the GP. Under the scheme introduced this year, the product is provided completely free of charge. I will, however, get the Deputy a detailed note just in case there are some nuances...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Medicinal Products (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I do not know if "prescriptionable" is a word. It is now and will be forever recorded as such. My understanding is that it is up to any company to apply for market authorisation and to apply to be added to the reimbursement list. I think this would be the best solution to this. We have well established processes, clinical governance, safety reviews and contract negotiations in place,...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Medicinal Products (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question. He will be aware that many of the recent medicine shortages were caused by an exceptional increase in demand for certain products to treat winter illnesses; in some cases this demand was two to three times greater than the same period in previous years. This demand was seen right across Europe and around the world. I am pleased to be able to inform the...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Medicinal Products (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy asked if Ireland was more affected than other countries. This is something we have been looking at. There are some commercial entities that have been suggesting it, linking it to them potentially getting paid more money for their products. There is no evidence to suggest that Ireland is more adversely affected by the current global medicine shortage than anywhere else. The HPRA...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Medicinal Products (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The HPRA is doing a very good job. It is very actively engaged in this and I am open to seeing if there is a wider role it can play or more it can do. The HPRA publishes a list of shortages. It would be useful if it could show that in many of these cases, for example, it might be that the 12-pack of a medication is not available but the 24-pack is. The real squeeze is therefore...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Dental Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: There are challenges in the provision of dental services and patients of all ages are waiting longer than they should to access care. This is not acceptable, but we are responding. This year, an additional €15 million was allocated in the budget to specifically deal with the issue. It is an unprecedented increase. Some €4 million of the allocation will target orthodontic...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Dental Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I will make two points specifically on the DTSS. The first is that the fee structure did not keep pace with inflation and we saw a lot of dentists leave the scheme as a result. There are issues related to the administrative burden of the scheme but they have been a factor for a long time. In response to that, we significantly increased the fees paid to dentists, by between 40% and 60% per...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Dental Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: There was an issue with regard to young people which was driven in part by Covid. The school-based schemes were affected by Covid. Money is being put in to catch up on those schemes. The Deputy will be aware that, critically, I funded a new scheme this year. That will be very important in years to come. Almost €5 million has been provided for a preventative scheme for children...

Co-ordination of International Protection Services: Statements (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I will talk about the health sector response shortly, but I want to respond to some of the allegations I have just heard. It is extraordinary. People would think that colleagues opposite are the only people in here who care about people in this country. Deputy Bríd Smith spoke about feeding the myths, the lies and the hatred and yet she came in here and did exactly that.