Results 5,581-5,600 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Nine out of ten patients were satisfied with the level of privacy and confidentiality they received and nine out of ten were satisfied with the manner in which their diagnosis had been communicated and found that information easy to understand.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Some 95% of patients felt they had been treated with dignity and respect.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The report mentioned by Deputy Kenny refers to none of that. It takes no account of life expectancy, which is the most basic indicator of health. People in Ireland are living longer.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Life expectancy increased from 75 years to 78 years between 1990 and 2002.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It is in line with increases in every developed country. The part of the Euro Health Consumer Index report that relates to general practitioner waiting times makes a blanket statement that patients in Ireland do not enjoy same-day services from family doctors. That is simply wrong. Irish patients are able to avail of GP services — over 42% of them have medical cards or GP medical cards. If...

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: On the issue of direct access to specialist care consultants, the reports states it is not accepted internationally that the best way to organise patient care is for patients to go straight to consultants without the advice of their family doctors. It is not an accepted mark of quality in health care. The health care needs of the vast bulk of patients can be met through GP care. The practice...

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If our entire health care system is entirely wrong and we should not have GPs at all——

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If that is the benchmark the Deputies opposite would like me to adopt——

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I will allow them answer the GPs in such circumstances.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I have enough problems getting them to work at night, even when I want to pay them to do so. If others want to tell the GPs they are not necessary, they can go ahead and do that. The Euro Health Consumer Index survey also mentions cancer treatment, but I do not have enough time to go into that in detail. The report misses the point, which is that the huge decrease in——

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I do not mind answering them all, a Cheann Comhairle.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: The report ignores the fact that there has been a decrease in cancer mortality among people under the age of 65. I would like to inform Deputy Kenny, before I answer his second question, that if he wants me to stand over the findings of a few people who slapped a bit of a report together and put it up——

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: If he wants me as Taoiseach to take it seriously, on the basis that someday he might find himself over here answering that kind of stuff, although it is unlikely——

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I would not do that. This country's child mortality rate and maternity system, for example, are second to none.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I am happy to stand here and defend our health service against a crowd of geniuses who did not even bother to get facts — that is the point.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I gave the facts.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: That shows how seriously Deputy Kenny takes his reports. However, I will not go down the same road. There is a lot to be done in the health service and we have reformed much of it.

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: Deputy Kenny's point is partly correct because the report stated we have, correctly, abandoned the health board system. I would rather consider the OECD report on health data. While the survey group worked from international data, it obviously picked up on the necessary reform of the outdated system of the health boards which existed for three and a half decades. The Government reformed that...

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: It took us time to change an old and dated system which originally replaced the local authority-based system. We have amended and centralised the old system into the Health Service Executive. The Government has also made large improvements in the health service along the way. Latest figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre show that national uptake rate for polio vaccination is...

Leaders' Questions. (27 Jun 2006)

Bertie Ahern: I hope I get the same attention as my colleagues have given to Deputy Rabbitte.