Results 481-500 of 3,998 for speaker:Michael Harty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (22 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: Before I call Deputy Murphy O'Mahony, I wish to convey apologies on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Corcoran Kennedy, who had to go to speak in the Seanad.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (22 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: He is gone temporarily; he will be back

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (22 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: I call Deputy Durkan. He might like to make a limited contribution.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (22 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: Being conscious of time, I am just going to move on. We have been here for three hours now. I would like to go back to the Minister's reference to the GP contract negotiations. As he knows, the committee wrote to him following a meeting two weeks ago stating that there was a strong feeling within the committee that both groups should be given equal status and parity of esteem within those...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (22 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: The framework document appears to be the inhibiting factor in allowing both groups to be viewed with equal status. What is the inhibiting factor in the framework document?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (22 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: I thank the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, for coming in this afternoon. I thank the Ministers of State at the Department, Deputies Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Catherine Byrne and Finian McGrath. I thank Jim Breslin from the Department of Health. Finally, I thank Tony O'Brien, Liam Woods and Rosarii Mannion from the HSE.

Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: I wish to address the topic of governance in the HSE. There are serious governance malfunctions and, in many areas, an absence of good governance in the health service in general. The OECD has found that Ireland has one of the highest spends on health services, yet it has some of the worst outcomes when it comes to accident and emergency treatment times, delayed admissions - with patients...

Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: We cannot expect this to be provided on a voluntary basis and it must be underpinned by legislation to ensure that good governance is rewarded and bad governance is eliminated. When does the Taoiseach intend to put in place legislative structures for the governance of the HSE?

Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: The legislation to which the Taoiseach referred underpins decisions made by the Dáil. I am referring to legislation underpinning decisions made by the HSE and concerning how it administers its funds. There are many examples of where funds are not delivering services, such as in respect of emergency department overcrowding, bed capacity issues, recruitment and retention of staff and the...

Leaders' Questions (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: The children’s hospital development is another case in point because a cost-benefit analysis was not done on the question of building on a brownfield rather than a greenfield site, and a huge amount of money is now going to be spent on building a hospital which could have been more cost-effectively built on a greenfield site. The Grace case is the most recent illustration of a lack...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2016 [Seanad]: Second Stage [Private Members] (28 Feb 2017)

Michael Harty: I congratulate Senator Ivana Bacik on introducing the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2016 and successfully piloting it through the Seanad. However, because of the Government's amendments, I am afraid the inclusive nature of the original draft has been watered down and the scope of the Bill has been narrowed significantly by excluding the service economy. The Bill excludes self-employed...

Insurance Industry: Motion [Private Members] (1 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: I compliment Deputy Michael McGrath on introducing the motion, which refers to the collapse of Setanta. It is essential for people to have insurance for their houses and cars, but we must have confidence in our insurance companies and be happy that they are reliable and solvent. I am aware of haulage companies in my area which are having great difficulty getting insurance in Ireland, and...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: I ask those present to note that this meeting will be carried live on Virgin Media channel 207, Eir Vision channel 504 and Sky channel 574. Members are asked to switch off their mobile phones or adjust them to airplane mode so that they do not interfere with the recording of this morning's meeting. Apologies have been received from Deputy Kelleher. This morning we will consider the 2017...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: I thank the Minister for his opening statement. I will now refer to the individual programmes in the indicative appendix of the Vote, which are linked to performance targets. Members are advised that I will refer to a document entitled Analysis of Revised Estimate for 2017 as we progress through the programme. This document was prepared by the financial scrutiny section of the committee...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: I thank the Minister. If it is okay, we will now move on to the second programme, which consists of four parts. It refers to primary care services, which has a total Vote of €3.852 billion. That is on page 7 of the document. It is broken down to primary care reimbursement services, which have a Vote of €2.807 billion, social inclusion, which has a Vote of €134...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: As an add-on to that, in my area in County Clare, there are excellent community palliative care services. The difficulty is that they are understaffed and stretched to the limit and beyond in providing the services. There can be an unavoidable delay in nurses coming to visit people in the community because of the lack of staffing. Perhaps the Minister will address that issue. I will then...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: Does the Minister want to respond to those?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: I thank the Minister. Before we go off that topic, perhaps I could sow an idea in his head in regard to nursing homes. I believe each nursing home should have a medical officer which would give consistent medical advice and an overview on how the nursing home deals with people who become acutely ill in their care. It would be an interesting study if the Minister could compare the number of...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: On that point, perhaps when people have a diagnosis of cancer, rather than having to get a letter to say that they are terminally ill, if they got a letter to say that they are having ongoing treatment for a certain period of time that should be sufficient to trigger a medical card and not have to be at death's door before being allocated a medical card.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Michael Harty: The next section relates to social inclusion, which is referred to on page nine of the analysis of estimates. This refers mostly to substance misuse and the treatment of those with substance misuse issues. That is one of the metrics used here. I did have some input into looking at homelessness and drug addiction and the duel diagnosis of drug addiction and mental illness, and I understand...