Results 3,501-3,520 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: The consumer price index formula that is being used is almost precisely a word-for-word replica of what is in the 2008 Act. I would be concerned if it were true, as Deputy Kelleher suggests, that this will give the Minister of the day a certain latitude. I would be concerned about his view if it were true, but it does not seem to me that it is. It seems to me that any clear or reasonable...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: It is published by the CSO. It is not the case that there is no accountability. Anybody can see the consumer price index. The limited power being given to the Minister to increase or decrease the income limits will be predicated exclusively and expressly on movements in the consumer price index, which is open for all to see on the public record because it is published by the Central...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: This is an exact restatement of the provision in existing legislation. It is only an enabling power, which already existed, for the Minister to bring in regulations. My information is that regulations have not been introduced to date. It is a restatement of a power that has always been in the legislation entitling the Minister to make regulations. A Minister cannot make regulations unless...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: It is important to make a distinction between a law that is made giving or removing substantial entitlements and a procedure that exists for a person to lodge an appeal if he or she is in some way disappointed or has lost out on an application. All this does is to allow the Minister to provide, by regulation, for the making and determination of appeals under this section. It is purely a...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: The Oireachtas makes the law. The Minister does not make the law. That is the position, and that was also the case when Deputy Kelleher was on this side of the House. That is the system we have - parliamentary democracy. If any Minister is going to make regulations, he or she cannot do so willy-nilly. There must be an Act under which the Minister may make the regulations. The...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: For the information of the Deputy and of the House, I can only deal with the issue of medical cards, not the social welfare issue or the other matters referred to by the Deputy. As the House has previously been informed, the HSE has confirmed that the average waiting time for an appeal is currently between four and 12 weeks. On 18 March 2013, 95.38% of medical card applications were being...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: The position is exactly as the Deputy describes: there are already guidelines in place which have been issued and circulated by the Minister. This section of the Bill provides for the same guidelines for those over 70. It is simply repeating the power of the Minister to issue guidelines to the HSE and persons designated by him or her with regard to the question of whether a person is...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: They have been doing it since 1990.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: Although its application in this context is to the over-70s, it is not a new provision that the Minister may issue guidelines in respect of matters such as ordinary residence. It has no application whatsoever to social welfare.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: The examples that have been given are being given in the context of social welfare. This has no application to social welfare. There is no point in invoking examples from the social welfare code in support of an argument on the question of medical cards. They are two completely different regimes. What we are dealing with here is medical cards and a specific provision which is not new in...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: I am not minded to make the section contingent or conditional on the referral of guidelines to the committee. I value highly the input, contribution and insight of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children, as does the Minister, but I am not minded to make the section conditional or contingent on the matter going before the committee. At the risk of irritating the Members in the...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: As I am sure Deputy Ó Caoláin has, Deputy Kelleher has carefully gone through the legislation line by line, as is his want, and no amendment was tabled. I am not minded to accept such an amendment because all we are doing is giving the power to the Minister that he may issue guidelines. It is simply a repetition of the current position. Deputy Kelleher referred to the legislation...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: I am anticipating the case the Deputy makes in what I say. I do not propose to accept amendment No. 6. There are clear definitions of personal data and sensitive data under the existing Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2003. Personal data means data relating to a living individual who is, or can be, identified from the data or from the data in conjunction with other information that is in, or...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages: Tax Code (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: I do not accept the suggestion made by the Deputies that this represents some kind of licence for inappropriate or excessive use of personal data or sensitive personal data. The contrary is the case. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caolain has asked where is the personal protection of the privacy of citizens. The answer to his question lies in the Data Protection Acts and is evident from the...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages: Tax Code (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: In that case, I misunderstood the Deputy. As the Deputy knows, this is clearly set out in the amending legislation of 2003. I do not believe the definition was in the principal Act. In any event, it is in legislation. Lest anybody is tempted to imagine for a moment that we are just bringing in the definition, he or she should note that personal data and sensitive personal data are already...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages: Tax Code (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: It does. I will read it again for the Deputy.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages: Tax Code (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: With respect, Deputy Ó Caoláin is, again, completely misunderstanding what is proposed. In regard to the protection of privacy and how data are dealt with, I refer Deputies to the data protection legislation, in particular the Data Protection Act 1988, section 2 of which relates to the collection, processing, keeping, use and disclosure of personal data; section 3 which relates to...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages: Tax Code (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: Yes the Deputy did.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages: Tax Code (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: The Deputy is doing an excellent job.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages: Tax Code (26 Mar 2013)

Alex White: The Deputy should read the rest of the section.