Results 4,141-4,160 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: General Medical Services Scheme Payments (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The current General Medical Services (GMS) General Practitioner (GP) Capitation Contract was introduced in 1989 and is based on a diagnosis and treatment model. Under the GMS contract, GPs receive a range of fees and allowances, including an annual capitation payment in respect of each medical card and GP visit card patient on their GMS list. Under the Financial Emergency Measures in the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Generic Drugs Substitution (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I propose to take Questions Nos. 697 and 698 together. The prices of drugs vary between countries for a number of reasons, including different prices set by manufacturers, different wholesale and pharmacy mark-ups, different dispensing fees and different rates of VAT. In recent years, a number of changes to the pricing and reimbursement system have been successfully introduced in Ireland....

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drugs Payment Scheme Threshold (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: Under the Drug Payment Scheme, no individual or family pays more than €144 per calendar month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines. The scheme significantly reduces the cost burden for families and individuals incurring ongoing expenditure on medicines. In addition, people who cannot, without undue hardship, arrange for the provision of medical services for themselves...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I support what the Minister has said. In fairness to Deputy Seamus Healy and others, it is important that we address the issues arising from the D case. The Deputy mistakenly referred to the judgment in the case when it was the State’s submission he actually quoted. The State’s submission stated, "The actual decision in the X case graphically demonstrated the potential for...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: There has been a misunderstanding about what I said but I will speak about it later.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: To the extent that Deputy Clare Daly suggests that we have chosen not to do this in circumstances where we know we could, I reject that. That is not the case. I, too, know persons quite close to me who have been affected by this particular circumstance that members have described here and the humanity of it. So far as I, as a man, can ever understand it, I am aware of exactly what Deputy...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: In most aspects of life, there is no certainty.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: Anything could be challenged.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: It would be fair to say that the advice the Government has is that in circumstances in which there is a foetus with a condition that is incompatible with life, as has been described here, but which is capable of being born alive, such a foetus is likely to attract the protection of Article 40.3.3°. That, I think, answers Deputy Wallace's question as best we can, because that is the core...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: On Deputy Naughten's point, I agree with the Minister that it is clear. There is no doubt about its clarity. However, if I am wrong in that and if there is a question mark over it, which I do not believe there is, it certainly cannot be cured by this amendment, with respect to Deputy Naughten, as it would remove the requirement "as far as practicable". The constitutional imperative to...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: The Deputy says there is no specific provision. The point is there is no right to do so. In other words, there is no positive right to do with what the Deputy is worried about. There is no right to end the life of the foetus. There is a right to a termination of pregnancy, but there is no right to destroy a foetus. It does not appear anywhere in the Bill. What the Deputy seems to be...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I thank the Minister for asking me to define "in good faith".

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: To some extent, it is a term of argument, but it is probably a term we all understand. We talk about people having bona fides, meaning they are not doing something for an improper reason or motive, or in a way that means they are stepping outside their professional competence and application to what they do. We often use the term "in good faith" if something was said in good faith. I...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: Looking at it legally, it literally begs the question as to what "best medical practice" is in any given situation. The default position must be a presumption by legislators that medical people will act professionally. That must be the default position, rather than the opposite. If we put in "best medical practice", it would be incumbent on us to go further and then start engaging in...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: It is for the purpose of reassurance, but now it is being suggested that it is not reassuring.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: I reiterate that we have discussed the issue of certainty. We all recognise that it is very difficult to attain certainty in practically any part of this area of discussion. We want to strive for and to achieve it as best we can. I agree with Deputy Mulherin that there is an element of subjectivity in the notion of good faith. It has a high measure of subjectivity in the sense that one...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: There is no definition of "best medical practice". I do not think there could be such a definition.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: It might help the Deputy to note that there is a reference in the Bill to "medical speciality".

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013: Committee Stage (2 Jul 2013)

Alex White: It is in the definitions section. It relates to the various doctors who are required to make the certification. The definition of "medical speciality" is the fourth or fifth one on the page.