Results 4,641-4,660 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Nobody is being provocative. You have campaigned that every time I speak, your colleagues——

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I can do the same.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I will ask my colleagues to stay quiet for Deputy Rabbitte, as they should, but he should ask his colleagues to stay quiet for me.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It is a simple matter.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Let him speak.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I reiterate what I have said a number of times. We are talking about the problems in the accident and emergency service. It is internationally recognised that this country's health service is very good. Because of it people are living longer and getting hospital treatment faster.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: They are getting to see far more specialists. They are working in much healthier workplaces and we are dealing with disabilities and a range of other services far more effectively. Across the cancer, cardiac and paediatric services there are enormous improvements of which the staff involved and the country should be hugely proud. There are well over 1 million inpatients, over 500,000 day...

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Rabbitte asked me a number of questions. There are 1,000 more beds in the public system in the last three years alone. I do not have the figures back to 1997. Some 500,000 patients are being dealt with effectively and efficiently by the medical services on a daycare basis. It was a fraction of that ten years ago. Thankfully, the same acute highly sophisticated hospital beds are no...

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: ——for a range of issues——

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: A total of 3,000 home care packages will be provided this year alone. That is why we are using a good number of the 2,500 private beds that are available. In total there are 16,000 beds in the health service — 13,500 public beds and 2,500 private beds. I do not like using the medical term that is applied to people who are in beds in that situation.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I am answering. The Deputy knows what is the difficulty.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Some 411 people have to be put in——

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I announced last week that we have provided an additional 250 beds on top of the 250 provided at Christmas time for those particular patients.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Rabbitte asked me what is different about what we are doing now. We have put in place a range of activities and measures, including the provision of high-dependency beds — which the Tánaiste has announced — intermediate care beds in private nursing homes, additional beds in public nursing homes, 3,000 home care packages and enhanced subventions. This has already facilitated 1,500...

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: One thousand.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I am trying to answer the questions Deputy Rabbitte put to me. The last question he asked was about what additional issues we are addressing. In response to what he said and just in case there is any confusion, we have not abandoned any of the remaining points of the ten-point plan. The purpose of the new task force which the Tánaiste has announced is to bring together those people who have...

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: There is no need for me to go back over all of the issues but I will just mention a few of them. The Deputy knows the Government's view on the common hospital contract. The Tánaiste has set out the position. He is also aware that the existing 2,000 consultants have contracts and they provide for a private and medical mix.

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Historically, the argument has been that we have provided very good medical consultants. A number of negotiations have been held as far back as 1974 to try to change that. The late Brendan Corish tried that and totally failed. Charles Haughey made contracts in 1979 and Deputy Noonan gave further concessions. Consultants have extremely strongly based contracts. The Tánaiste set out her...

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If the Deputy is purporting that the hospital waiting lists have not changed I can state they have changed dramatically. The waiting time for 14 of the top 16 specialties is down to under four months whereas ten years ago it was several years. There have been significant improvements in waiting times. With the advent of the National Treatment Purchase Fund——

Leaders' Questions. (29 Mar 2006)

Bertie Ahern: ——we are giving top class quality services to people and as a result the waiting lists have decreased dramatically.