Results 5,481-5,500 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Written Answers — Emergency Services: Emergency Services (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: The first part of 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. Pre-hospital emergency care services in the eastern region are provided by the executive and Dublin City Council through Dublin Fire Brigade. My Department is advised by the executive that...

Written Answers — Hospital Waiting Lists: Hospital Waiting Lists (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: Responsibility for the collection and reporting of waiting lists and waiting times now falls within the remit of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF. My Department has, therefore, asked the chief executive of the NTPF to reply to the Deputy directly with the requested information. Data on out-patient waiting times are not collated nationally by my Department. The management of...

Written Answers — Infectious Diseases: Infectious Diseases (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: I am satisfied with progress on preparedness for a possible flu pandemic and with public health actions in response to a possible outbreak of avian flu in Ireland. For the sake of clarity, H5N1 avian flu is primarily a disease of birds. To date, there have been a very small number of human cases of H5N1 infection documented, in situations where there has been very close contact with infected...

Written Answers — Accident and Emergency Services: Accident and Emergency Services (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: My Department is in ongoing discussions with the Health Service Executive with regard to the need for improvement in the accident and emergency services, with a particular focus on reducing the numbers on trolleys and the waiting times for patients in individual hospitals. There is a need to build on the existing action plan for accident and emergency services and, in particular, to adopt a...

Written Answers — Cancer Screening Programme: Cancer Screening Programme (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 101 together. I recently met with representatives of BreastCheck and they are fully aware of my wish to have the programme rolled out nationally as quickly as possible. For this to happen, essential elements of the roll out must be in place including adequate staffing, effective training and quality assurance programmes. I have made additional revenue...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: Discussions have taken place between representatives of my Department, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety and of Belfast City Hospital, BCH. It has been agreed that the most effective strategy to deliver radiation oncology to patients in Donegal at BCH is to commission Co-operation and Working Together, CAWT, which has a track record of successfully managing...

Written Answers — Health Service Reports: Health Service Reports (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: Over the past ten years reports have been prepared in respect of many different aspects of health and personal social services. These range from services for children to services for older people and from acute hospital services to primary health care services. Such reports provided information, data or analysis which informed the development of health strategy, policy or services. The Deputy...

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 102 and 112 together. Information supplied to my Department by the primary care reimbursement service of the Health Service Executive, HSE, for February 2006 indicates there are 1,159,794 persons covered for services under the general medical services scheme who are medical holders, representing approximately 28% of the estimated current national population....

Written Answers — Hospitals Building Programme: Hospitals Building Programme (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: The new consultant's contract will set out in detail formal employment arrangements for consultants practising exclusively in the public sector. The impact of the new contract on proposals to locate private facilities on public hospital sites will be considered as part of the transition arrangements under the new contract.

Written Answers — National Treatment Purchase Fund: National Treatment Purchase Fund (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: In general, patients waiting more than three months on an inpatient neurosurgical waiting list can qualify for treatment under the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF. However, within this specialty there are some treatments of a very specialised nature requiring the skills of specific consultant neurosurgeons and multidisciplinary teams and for reasons of complexity these cases are best...

Written Answers — National Treatment Purchase Fund: National Treatment Purchase Fund (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: My Department has been informed by the chief executive of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, that it continues to deal with queries and representations from Deputies on behalf of constituents. If the Deputy has a particular instance in mind, he should contact the chief executive of the fund directly in order to resolve the matter. The Deputy will be aware that arrangements have been...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (2 Mar 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 — Pension Provisions: Pension Provisions (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: The Pensions (Abatement) Act 1965 provides the legislative basis for the suspension or reduction of an allowance-pension where, after retirement, a scheme pensioner is employed in an agency or organisation in which the superannuation scheme paying the pension applies. Remuneration plus pension for the specified period should not exceed the uprated remuneration for the post from which the...

Written Answers — National Cancer Strategy: National Cancer Strategy (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: I received the Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland 2006 from the chairman of the National Cancer Forum in January. I am currently examining it with a view to bringing proposals to the Government. I expect to have the strategy published shortly. The strategy recommends a whole-population approach to cancer care, with a strong emphasis on integration and holistic care together with a strong...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (2 Mar 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 this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: The National Service Plan 2006 of the Health Service Executive provides a commitment to develop proposals to support patients who have to travel long distances to access specialist services, with particular focus in 2006 on those travelling for radiotherapy treatment. I approved this plan in December and it was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas last month. I made available an...

Written Answers — Hospital Accommodation: Hospital Accommodation (2 Mar 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 — Appointments to State Boards: Appointments to State Boards (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: My Department has compiled the requested information which has been forwarded to the Deputy under separate cover due to the volume of data involved. The Deputy should note that this list takes no account of duplicate entries in the case of board members who may have been re-appointed to a board or appointed to more than one Board within the timeframe involved.

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 132 and 136 together. The Deputy's questions relate 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. The HSE is responsible for considering new capital proposals and progressing them under the health capital programme. Accordingly, the Department of...

Written Answers — Infectious Diseases: Infectious Diseases (2 Mar 2006)

Mary Harney: The Health Protection Surveillance Centre collects data on MRSA bacteraemia, also known as bloodstream infection or blood poisoning, for the purposes of the surveillance, prevention and control of MRSA as part of the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System. The European system, which collects data on the first episode of bloodstream infection per patient per quarter, was...