Results 4,861-4,880 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: I presume the Deputy is referring to comments I recently made in respect of reported work practices, as distinct from the work ethic, of some nursing staff in Limerick Regional Hospital. My comments at the time reflected my concerns about cases in the health service where staff are paid for hours they have not worked. We now have a single employer in the HSE and it does not make sense that...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. This includes responsibility for the provision of services at Louth County Hospital. Accordingly, my Department has requested the executive to arrange to have these matters investigated and to have a reply...

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: I am aware of the potential that exists for some consultants to earn substantial amounts of money through private work. This has been taken into account by the management team when producing its proposals for a new consultants' contract. It is accepted that a new contract would need to include strong incentives to attract consultants to public-only work. For this reason, management has...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy. My attention has...

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: I take it the Deputy is referring to the geographical whole-time without fees contract, which was introduced in 1991. I have been informed that the parties to the 1997 consultants' contract negotiations were in agreement that the problems associated with the operation of this particular contract outweighed its advantages. The option of a consultant taking such a contract on or after the 1...

Written Answers — Cancer Screening Programme: Cancer Screening Programme (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 195, 212 and 245 together. Incidence and mortality rates for cervical cancer in Ireland are in the mid-range of rates observed across Europe. Data supplied by the national cancer registry for the period 1994 to 2002 shows that the average annual incidence of cervical cancer in this country was 170 and the average annual number of deaths from the disease was...

Written Answers — National Cancer Strategy: National Cancer Strategy (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 196 and 290 together. The chairman of the national cancer forum recently submitted to me a publication, entitled A Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland 2006. My Department has now commenced an assessment of the policy and resource implications. On conclusion of this assessment, I will then bring the new cancer strategy to Government. I expect to have the...

Written Answers — Asthma Incidence: Asthma Incidence (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: While Ireland has experienced an increase in the incidence of asthma, I would point out to the Deputy that the incidence in Ireland is similar to that in other developed countries. A number of initiatives have been taken in recent years with regard to this condition. These initiatives include research and the co-ordination of an EU policy on asthma. While my Department has no plans to develop...

Written Answers — General Medical Services Scheme: General Medical Services Scheme (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: I have previously expressed concern regarding the increasing cost of the State drug schemes and the need to ensure better value for money for this expenditure. All aspects of the drug delivery system, from the manufacturer to the patient, are under review. A number of issues, including access to generic drugs and supply chain costs such as pharmacy mark-ups, are being considered with a view...

Written Answers — Prescription Drugs: Prescription Drugs (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 206 and 217 together. The new contract will set out in detail formal employment arrangements for consultants practicing exclusively in the public sector. Its key features are as follows. Consultant-provided service is to be delivered by teams of consultants, where the consultants have a substantial and direct involvement in the diagnosis, delivery of care and...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: There are increasing demands on the acute hospital system to provide more treatments and to provide more advanced and specialised procedures. The capacity of the acute hospital system continues to increase in response to these demands. In 2001, the average number of inpatient beds and day places available for treatment of patients in public acute hospitals was 12,145. The hospital returns for...

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The Health Service Executive's Vote for 2006 includes an additional €4 million to allow a further increase of 22 in the number of general practitioner training places. This represents a significant commitment to responding to future general practitioner manpower needs, and is the second of three phased increases intended to bring the number of training places nationally to 150. The HSE has...

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The issue raised in the Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — General Medical Services Scheme: General Medical Services Scheme (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: The personal public service number is used by the Health Service Executive as a unique identifier for people who are entitled to publicly provided general practitioner services under the General Medical Services, GMS, scheme. The unique identifier appears on patients' medical cards, which they are required to produce when availing of services from their GMS general practitioner. The...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (31 Jan 2006)

Mary Harney: At the end of September 2005 there were a total of 1,578 whole-time equivalent public health nurses or 1,905 individual public health nurses, employed by the Health Service Executive. The HSE sponsors 130 nurses per annum to undertake the higher diploma in public health nursing. The annual cost of this programme is in excess of €4.5 million. The projected supply from these training courses...