Results 4,481-4,500 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: It will not be possible-----

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: Can I make my points, even if I repeat them?

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: Very good. We are happy about that. To come back to this proposal, it went to the European scrutiny committee on 27 January 2009. The directive was subsequently finalised and published at EU level in mid-2010. Following considerable discussion with key stakeholders, my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, transposed the directive into Irish law by means of the...

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: No such motion was placed on the Order Paper of the Seanad last year-----

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: -----and that has to be taken on board. No effort was made. There may have been an effort to recall the Seanad, which seems to have been unnecessary, but no motion appeared on an Order Paper either here or in the other House seeking to annul or set aside the statutory instrument, as was the opportunity afforded to Senators. I am not resiling from what I said earlier about the inadequacy of...

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: No case has been made of any strength in this House or elsewhere that these regulations should be annulled-----

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: -----and no serious argument has been advanced. In any case, Ireland is legally obliged to transpose the EU directive into Irish law, and we would face sanctions if we failed to do so. I accept that the current infrastructure for organ donation and transplantation in Ireland can be improved. However, I firmly believe that this infrastructure must be built on a solid foundation of quality...

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: Article 17, which is the operative part of the directive, makes it clear. It reads, "Member States shall designate one or more competent authorities", and Senators should not be referring to-----

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: The Irish Medicines Board has an excellent reputation, and considerable experience in authorising blood and tissue establishments as set out in other EU directives on quality and safety. It made sense to expand the remit of the IMB to include the inspection and authorisation of procurement and transplantation centres. It is also wholly appropriate that a separate agency is tasked with...

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: It cannot be a point. There is no problem with what is in the regulations. I appeal to Senators. It was not proper, even in the full thrust of the rhetoric in a debate like this, to suggest that the Minister, Deputy Reilly, in signing the regulations last year, had the kind of consequences Senator Daly suggested.

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: That was beneath Senator Daly. It was unworthy of him and unworthy of this House. The regulations are not flawed.

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: The directive is not disastrous.

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: I have a report here from a newspaper in which Senator Daly amplified his view and stated that the Minister, Deputy Reilly, introduced a Bill last year which condemned hundreds to longer waiting times.

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: I think that was unfortunate, and not the sort of tone for the debate that we were entitled to expect.

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: The transposition of the directive was done by way of these regulations. All of the issues that Members state they want to see happen in the future can certainly be debated here and we would rely on the assistance of Senator Darragh O'Brien and his colleagues in improving the regime in the future, but what has been dealt with here is a more confined, highly important but nevertheless...

Seanad: SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012: Motion (20 Aug 2013)

Alex White: What about Article 17 of the directive?

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff Recruitment (18 Sep 2013)

Alex White: In March 2013, I issued approval to the HSE to commence recruitment to Primary Care Teams with immediate effect of 251 Primary Care posts, which included 47 Speech and Language Therapists. The recruitment process is at an advanced stage and it is the intention to have these posts filled by the end of this year. In August this year, a further 13.5 Primary Care posts were approved of which 5...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dental Services Provision (18 Sep 2013)

Alex White: The HSE is responsible for providing dental care to schoolchildren. The matter has therefore been referred to the HSE for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Eligibility (18 Sep 2013)

Alex White: Under the Health Service Executive's (HSE) Medical Card/GP Visit Card National Assessment Guidelines, savings or similar investments up to the first €36,000 for a single person and up to the first €72,000 for a couple are disregarded in the assessment process for a medical card and only interest from savings or similar investments above these figures will be considered as...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Orthodontic Services Provision (18 Sep 2013)

Alex White: The HSE provides orthodontic treatment to patients based on their level of clinical need. An individual's access to orthodontic treatment is determined against a set of clinical guidelines and priority is given to patients with greatest needs. The HSE has been asked to examine the specific query raised by the Deputy and to reply to him as soon as possible.