Results 5,021-5,040 of 11,979 for speaker:Billy Kelleher

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Charges (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: 71. To ask the Minister for Health the measures he will take to reduce hospital costs for persons with health insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30750/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Charges (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: The most prohibitive cost is the cost to people who are trying to retain private health insurance. The Minister says that the insurers can do a lot more to drive down costs but equally, the Department of Health could do a lot more to assist in driving down costs. For example, private health insurers negotiate with private hospital providers on payments for procedures, but this is still not...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Charges (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: The issue at stake is the private health insurance market per se, which is in crisis. The number of insured people is dropping all the time, with less than 50% of the population covered by private health insurance. This will put further pressure on public hospitals. In the meantime, private health insurers are incapable of negotiating with the public hospital system because the Department...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Charges (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: That has nothing to do with private health insurance costs.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Charges (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: It gives me more reason to believe this Government is incapable of having an investigation as a coalition.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Charges (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: Is that criminal negligence on behalf of banks or politicians?

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: 74. To ask the Minister for Health the timeframe for the delivery of the primary care commitments in the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30751/13]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: The Government's credibility on this issue has been shattered. The programme for Government states, "Access to primary care without fees will be extended in the first year to claimants of free drugs under the long-term illness scheme at a cost of €17 million". We are in year three and there has been no roll-out of free GP care for long-term illness claimants nor has there been any...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: I never questioned the Minister of State's commitment but his delivery of this proposal is at stake here. The difficulty is that while we are discussing these grand plans, letters are being circulated to people throughout the country, some in their 70s and 80s, by the primary care reimbursement service requesting a review of their medical card entitlement. I have raised this issue time and...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: I certainly am not. I have raised this issue on many occasions. The case I mentioned is just one example of the circumstances in which people throughout the country now find themselves, as every Member of this House will attest. While we are discussing the Government's grand plan for primary care provision, people are being terrorised because they have been randomly selected by a computer...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: Some 40,000 people have already been selected for review, as far as I can ascertain. The grand plan has been announced but the day-to-day reality is that medical cards are being withdrawn and people who would previously have qualified on discretionary grounds are no longer being accommodated. That is the truth of the matter.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: Not on a discretionary basis.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Services Provision (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: Discretion has been withdrawn.

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: The Minister of State is well aware of the significant problems posed by suicide. It is a silent crisis facing every community. In 2011, 525 people died by suicide. There are alarming statistics and something needs to be done quickly about it. I do not question the Minister of State's commitment or knowledge in this area, but we certainly need to do more. It is time we looked at...

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: I do not question the Minister of State's commitment-----

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: -----but this is not about her on her own. The point I am making is that I do not question her commitment, but some time ago the Minister for Education and Skills cut the number of career guidance counsellors in schools throughout the country. They are front-line staff working at the coalface in dealing with people who have difficulties. That is a fact. Therefore, I question the...

Other Questions: Suicide Prevention (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: It certainly is true. I have met career guidance counsellors who have told me that they are very concerned about this. We were waiting for one year for the appointment of a director to the National Office for Suicide Prevention. If there was a sense of urgency about this issue, one would thought that decision would have been made well in advance of having to wait one year to make the...

Other Questions: Obesity Strategy (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: Just to show the Punch and Judy politics is gone from this House, I congratulate the Minister on his proposal to ban menthol cigarettes throughout Europe. It is a very positive proposal.

Other Questions: Obesity Strategy (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: The Minister has put obesity to the fore, but while we are talking about policies in this House, it is not happening in any real terms on the streets of this country. The statistics are alarming. Against any benchmark, country or statistics from the World Health Organisation, WHO, or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, it is clear we have an obesity epidemic in...

Other Questions: Obesity Strategy (25 Jun 2013)

Billy Kelleher: We do not want to be repetitive. This was raised in a priority question also. We need serious action very quickly. Dr. Donal O'Shea has been clear about this for some time and has pointed out that we are in the middle of the epidemic. We already have it. We can examine the statistics of any other country; where it continually develops it creates huge societal and health problems and...