Results 48,261-48,280 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Children's Hospital (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Timely completion of the New Children’s Hospital is a Government priority and must be for all those involved. In the last year alone, the contractor has deferred the date to deliver this new building four times. Everyone will share the frustration over the repeated delays to substantial completion of the building. We need to open the doors of this world class hospital for our...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The Community Health Centre in Castlemartyr, was in use up to 2 weeks ago by the Home Help Service. At present, the property is vacant, however the HSE plan to use the property in the provision of health services in the area. A review of service options is currently underway, which will inform the short- to medium-term use for the health centre. The service options appraisal is...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I wish to thank the Deputy for allowing me to update the house on this matter. HSE Community Healthcare West is currently actively engaged in supporting the development of a Primary Care Centre in the South Connemara Primary Care team area – this area includes An Cheathrú Rua/Carraroe. The plans for this development are at a very early stage, with the accommodation schedule...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I am advised that the reason for the temporary cessation of this service is that the two consultant doctors providing the chronic pain service in Sligo University Hospital have both moved to new roles. The HSE advises that recruitment to fill these two vacant consultant anaesthetist posts in the pain service is actively ongoing. Advertisements are active in all appropriate websites and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Equipment (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As Minister for Health, I am committed to the ongoing development of regional hospitals, including Cavan & Monaghan Hospital. This Government has allocated significant resources in order to meet the needs of patients using the hospital: The budget for Monaghan Hospital has increased from €11m in 2021 to €14m in 2024, an increase of 27%. Staffing has increased by 70%,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Staff (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As Minister for Health, I am committed to the ongoing development of Letterkenny University Hospital. This Government has allocated significant resources to Letterkenny which will benefit patients: The hospital budget has increased from €157 million in 2020 to €196 million in 2024, a 25% increase in 4 years. Staffing at the hospital has grown by 437 since January 2020, an...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I am delighted to inform you about some significant capital infrastructure proposals for Beaumont Hospital. A new Emergency Department (ED) centred around a reconfiguration of the existing ED, which will include an 8-bay resuscitation area, is being proposed. This proposal is ongoing and is at the Detailed Design stage of the process. The Beaumont Hospitals Technical Services...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Healthcare Policy (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The ongoing work of the Productivity and Savings Taskforce aims to ensure that we maximise the use of health funding by identifying savings and opportunities to improve productivity across the health service. The Taskforce published an Action Plan last April and have met on 10 occasions to date this year. The Action Plan and minutes of meetings are published on the Government website: ...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I want to acknowledge that waiting lists for scoliosis and spina bifida services are unacceptably long. I am acutely conscious of the burden that this places on patients and their families. I committed €19 million of current and capital funding to tackle these waiting lists by creating additional capacity. There was an increase in the number of spinal procedures carried out in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: This Government has a consistent track record of investing in our National Ambulance Service (NAS) who provide a high quality, effective and patient-centered ambulance service for people right across the country, including in the Monaghan area. Through the HSE National Service Plan for 2024, the NAS received a significant allocation of €231 million. Increases in investment in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The challenge facing our acute hospital waiting lists is well recognised, and both the Government and I have acknowledged that waiting lists are too long and many patients on those lists are waiting too long to receive the care they need. According to the latest NTPF figures, there are 3,930 children on the Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) orthopaedic outpatient waiting list and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Tobacco Control Measures (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The illicit trade in tobacco products and related enforcement issues are a matter for the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and my colleague the Minister for Finance. My objective is to reduce smoking prevalence and therefore reduce the demand for tobacco products which will ultimately lead to a reduction in tobacco smuggling and other aspects of illicit trade. My current legislative...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointments Status (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Vaccination Programme (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). NIAC continue to revise its recommendations having regard to of the prevalence of the relevant disease in Ireland and international best practice in relation to immunisation. To date, the varicella vaccine has not been included as part of the primary childhood immunisation...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 41, 45, 46, 53, 55 and 58 together. There has been an unprecedented level of investment by this Government in the health service workforce in recent years, with the growth in the number of staff recruited in 2023 being the highest since the foundation of the HSE As of August 2024, there were 27,901 more staff working in our health service than there were...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It is acknowledged that acute hospital waiting lists are too long, and that many patients are waiting an unacceptably long time for care. As part of the multi-annual approach to reducing waiting lists, and just as importantly the length of time that patients are waiting, I published the 2024 Waiting List Action Plan on the 27th of March. Total funding of €360 million has been...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As the Health Service Executive (HSE) holds responsibility for the provision, along with the maintenance and operation of Primary Care Centres, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I have asked the HSE, as the agency with day-to-day responsibility for developing healthcare projects in Swords (including the Surgical Hub, Primary Health Care Centre, Elective Hospital and other related projects) to respond to you directly in relation to the matters raised.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (3 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I want to acknowledge that waiting lists for scoliosis and spina bifida services are unacceptably long. I am acutely conscious of the burden that this places on patients and their families. I committed €19 million of current and capital funding to tackle these waiting lists by creating additional capacity. There was an increase in the number of spinal procedures carried out in 2022...