Results 4,101-4,120 of 15,268 for speaker:Kathleen Lynch

Written Answers — Community Care: Community Care (11 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (11 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: As the Deputy will be aware, residential services for people with disabilities are currently unregulated. This is acknowledged as a matter of concern. The legislative framework for the regulation of these services is provided for by the Health Act 2007, which envisages a role for the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, in this regard. Part 7 of the Act outlines the role of the...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: The funding of disability services by the Department of Health is the subject of a detailed Value for Money and Policy Review as part of the Government's Value for Money Reviews for the period 2009 to 2011. As part of the overall VFM review, a separate Expert Reference Group on Disability Policy was established to look specifically at existing disability policy and whether it needs to be...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: The Value for Money and Policy Review (VFM&PR) of the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Disability Services in Ireland is being undertaken in the context of the Government's Value for Money & Policy Review Initiative 2009-2011 and is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2012. The review, which encompasses statutory and non-statutory service providers, is assessing how well current...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 to 225, inclusive, together. Specialist disability services are provided in a variety of community and residential settings in partnership with service users, their families and carers, and a range of statutory, non-statutory, voluntary and community groups. Some services are delivered directly by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and include basic health...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: The HSE has statutory responsibility for the delivery of health and personal social services, and the question of funding specific care programmes, or individual non-statutory care providers, can only be addressed in the context of finalising the HSE Service Plan 2012. The allocation of funding across care groups, including Palliative Care, has yet to be agreed. As was the case in previous...

Written Answers — Mental Health Services: Mental Health Services (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: Significantly the new system of governance will involve seven Directorates, including a separate Directorate for Mental Health which will have full responsibility and accountability in that area. In this context, my colleague Minister Reilly intends to bring forward detailed proposals at a later date for the re-organisation of the HSE at directorate, regional and local levels in a manner...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: I propose to take Questions Nos. 237 to 239, inclusive, together. As these are service matters they have been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.However, the HSE has given assurances that they will engage fully in a local consultation process with all the stakeholders before any decision is taken in relation to the Community Nursing Unit in question.

Seanad: Suicide Prevention: Statements (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: I am not certain that one can discuss the issue of suicide enough, particularly when one considers the scourge it has become in communities. For this reason, I appreciate the opportunity to make a statement on suicide prevention. The importance of exploring the causes of and ways of dealing with suicide cannot be over-emphasised. A suicide is a tragic and shattering occurrence that not...

Seanad: Hospital Services (12 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank Senator Ó Domhnaill for raising this issue as it provides me with an opportunity to update the House on this matter and outline the background to the current position and the action taken by the Health Service Executive. Government policy on older people is to support people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where this is...

Employment Rights (17 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank both Deputies for raising the issue. As they rightly said, it is very serious. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter. There are a number of measures in place to prevent exploitation and forced labour in Ireland. The International Labour Organisation's definition of forced labour comprises two basic elements: the work or service is...

Employment Rights (17 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland and other such organisations are not so much the first port of call for people who find themselves in difficulties but usually the only port of call. It is amazing that we have four statutory agencies charged with responsibility in this area - four different units with wide-ranging roles - namely, the Legal Aid Board, the Garda Síochána, the Department of...

Mental Health Services (17 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank Deputy Calleary for raising this issue. He is probably aware I have had an interest in this area not just since I got this job but for many years, and I have worked very closely with his colleague, the former Minister of State, Mr. John Moloney. We should never forget that what we are doing now is simply a continuum. Others have been here before and there will be others in the...

Mental Health Services (17 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: There are four areas in the country where, with the co-operation of the voluntary service users and the professionals involved, we have managed to roll out what is considered the model in regard to mental health services, namely, high-support hostels, day hostels and community-based mental health teams. In the areas I have looked at where this has been done the service is extraordinary. It...

Hospital Services (17 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue which I am responding to on behalf of the Minister for Health. Letterkenny General Hospital provides a full range of acute services, including a 24-hour accident and emergency department. The hospital serves a catchment population of 350,000. I am sure the Deputy is well aware of this. During October 2011, the special delivery unit, SDU,...

Hospital Services (17 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: The extension referred to by the Deputy was due for completion by early February 2012. As he knows, however, a storm in the middle of December caused considerable damage to the block. That has been put right and it is estimated the extension will be completed in the next six weeks. With the commissioning and additional works that need to be done on internal structures, the HSE believes the...

Written Answers — Services for People with Disabilities: Services for People with Disabilities (18 Jan 2012)

Kathleen Lynch: As I informed the Deputy previously, it was decided that funding to People with Disabilities in Ireland (PwDI) had to cease at the end of 2011. On the basis of a value for money review, it was clearly established that the vast majority of the money allocated to PwDI was being spent disproportionately. The largest proportion of PwDI's annual budget has been spent over the last number of years...