Results 4,701-4,720 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Reviews (1 Oct 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: Medical Card Delays (1 Oct 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: Medical Card Applications (1 Oct 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: Medicinal Products Supply (1 Oct 2013)

Alex White: The HSE has accepted the pricing and reimbursement application for Pirfenidone (Esbriet) and associated commercially confidential offer made by Intermune (the market authorisation holder) and commenced reimbursement of the product with effect from 1st of August 2013.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (1 Oct 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...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rare Diseases Strategy Publication (1 Oct 2013)

Alex White: I thank Senator Colm Burke for raising this important issue and providing me with an opportunity to update the House on progress in the development of the national plan for rare diseases. Rare diseases are life-threatening or chronic debilitating conditions affecting not more than five in 10,000 people. Between 5,000 and 8,000 rare diseases have been described, affecting between 6% and 8%...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rare Diseases Strategy Publication (1 Oct 2013)

Alex White: I will not hazard an answer to the Senator's question. However, I will seek to obtain the information he seeks in the next few days, at which point I will indicate to him whether a list is likely to be included in the plan or will follow thereafter. There is a commitment to publish and implement the plan and the various other components of the process. I thank Senator Burke again for the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (1 Oct 2013)

Alex White: I thank Senator Higgins and Senator Moloney for their contribution on this issue. As Senators will be aware, under the provisions of the Health Act 1970, assessment for a medical card is determined primarily by reference to the means, including the income and expenditure of the applicant and his or her partner or dependants. People with specific illnesses such as cancer are not...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (1 Oct 2013)

Alex White: No, absolutely not, on the contrary. In respect of medical cards extended on a discretionary basis, social and medical issues are considered when determining whether undue hardship exists for an individual accessing general practitioner or other medical services. This applies even where the person is above the income guidelines and the person can apply to be dealt with under the discretion...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (1 Oct 2013)

Alex White: I will certainly consider what the Senators have said. As have other colleagues, they have taken a close interest in the issue. Members will recall the programme for Government included a plan to extend general practitioner visiting cards to the population that was to start with people with long-term illnesses and was then to move on to those who needed high technology drugs. I should note...

Topical Issue Debate: Medical Card Applications (2 Oct 2013)

Alex White: I thank Deputy Nash for raising this matter. Medical cards are provided to persons who, under the provisions of the Health Act 1970, are in the opinion of the HSE unable, without undue hardship, to arrange general practitioner, GP, services for themselves and their dependants. The assessment for a medical card is determined primarily by reference to the means including the income and...

Topical Issue Debate: Medical Card Applications (2 Oct 2013)

Alex White: I will take very seriously what the Deputy has said on this issue. Towards the end of his second contribution he distinguished between a decision on the basis of income, where the income categories are relatively straightforward and ascertainable and the person either satisfies the requirements or does not, and a discretionary decision. Where the discretionary aspect comes in, a decision is...

Topical Issue Debate: Child Benefit Reform (2 Oct 2013)

Alex White: I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, who is before the Oireachtas Joint Sub-Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions. I thank Deputy Naughten for raising the issue of child benefit and school attendance. Both child income support and school attendance are important social policy concerns of the Government. Child...

Topical Issue Debate: Child Benefit Reform (2 Oct 2013)

Alex White: I am not sure there is a huge amount I can add to what the Minister indicated in his response. As I made clear, the social security rights of people living and working in the European Union are governed by EU regulations. The Deputy has raised a number of issues in his contribution, but the principal issue is the one on which he touched towards the end, namely, that depriving parents and...

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

Alex White: Under the provisions of the Health Act 1970, the assessment for a medical card is determined primarily by reference to the means, including the income and expenditure, of the applicant and his or her partner and dependants. While people with specific illnesses are not automatically entitled to medical cards, the legislation provides for discretion by the HSE to grant a medical card where a...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Reform (2 Oct 2013)

Alex White: A review was carried out earlier this year under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Act 2009 in relation to the operation, effectiveness and impact of the amounts and rates payable to certain health professionals under the relevant Regulations. The professionals concerned were General Practitioners, Pharmacists, Dentists, Ophthalmologists, Optometrists and...

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

Alex White: The length of time it currently takes for medical card appeals to be processed may vary depending on the complexity of the appeal and this can average between 4 to 12 weeks. It is important to point out that many of these appeals cases are reviews of existing medical card holders and in that instance there is no immediate impact on the client as they continue to hold the medical card until...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres Provision (2 Oct 2013)

Alex White: The delivery of primary care infrastructure is a dynamic process and must take account of changing circumstances including the feasibility of implementing the delivery of the centres by means of lease, direct- build or PPP. The Health Service Executive (HSE) is working with the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA) to progress Primary Care Centre Public Private Partnership. The HSE has...