Results 5,921-5,940 of 7,823 for speaker:Jim Daly

Written Answers — Department of Health: Long Stay Residential Units (12 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 463 to 466, inclusive, together. As these are service matters I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Services Data (12 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Psychological Services (12 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Psychological Services (12 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: The Mental Health Commission was established under the Mental Health Act 2001. The commission’s main functions are to promote, encourage and foster high standards and good practices in the delivery of mental health services and to protect the interests of patients who are involuntarily admitted. Accordingly, the Mental Health Act 2001 states that the Inspector of Mental Health...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I share the Deputy’s concerns. I am anxious to see the Mental Health Commission roll this out as soon as possible. Obviously, we have to get the legislative piece of work done. Regarding the Deputy’s comments on the year-on-year promise of the legislation, I have committed that it will be sent to the commission within the next few weeks, and the officials in the Department...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: The idea is that every service would be regulated. This is a debate we can have during the passage of the legislation, which will come before these Houses. At the moment, the suggestion is it would be better to have every single premises inspected at least once every three years as opposed to a select number being inspected once a year and others never being inspected. The best option is...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Overcrowding (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I offer my apologies for the absence of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. I am taking this question and the remaining questions on the Minister's behalf as he is not in the country due to the week that is in it, as Deputies may understand. I will endeavour to answer the questions as best I can on his behalf. The emergency department in University Hospital Limerick is one of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Overcrowding (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I remind the Deputy that 23 new beds have been opened at the Limerick facility in the past 18 months. There was also a recent announcement of €2 million for enabling works to progress the 60-bed modular unit at the hospital. I will revert to the Deputy with information on when the Minister last met management at UHL.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Overcrowding (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: We are fast-tracking beds through the allocation in recent weeks of €2 million to facilitate the 60-bed modular unit. The Deputy will be aware there has been a significant increase in the number of presentations at the accident and emergency department in University Hospital Limerick which compounds the difficulties. We have to plan ahead to try to deal with those increases. A whole...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Consultant Contracts (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: The difference in pay between established consultants and new entrants - those who joined the public health service from 1 October 2012 - has been highlighted extensively by the consultants’ representative bodies. My colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, met the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, at its annual general meeting last year when he addressed the issue of new...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Consultant Contracts (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I confirmed in my reply that the Minister, Deputy Harris, met the representatives of the Irish Hospital Consultants Association last week. It has been accepted that there is a disparity in new-entrant pay for consultants and the Government would like to see it addressed. It has been acknowledged by the Public Service Pay Commission that the disparity is contributing to recruitment issues in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Consultant Contracts (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I am not going to argue with the Deputy but we cannot flip a switch. The Deputy is comparing apples and oranges when he refers to capital and revenue budgets. He says it is €25 million, although I am not certain his figure is correct, to bridge the gap but that is each and every year. The other budget to which he referred is a capital budget for a build which is a one-off cost....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I have already addressed the absence of the Minister for Health who is out of the country. The Minister is working towards the introduction shortly of a cannabis for medical use access programme. While the arrangements to enable this programme to begin are being finalised, it is open to a registered medical practitioner to apply for a ministerial licence under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I appreciate the Deputy's consistency on the issue and his diligence in raising the difficulties families are experiencing. We want to introduce a medicinal cannabis access programme to address those difficulties. In the meantime, however, we must deal with the difficulties and challenges presented by the law of the Netherlands on exports. We recognise the difficulty that presents to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I agree wholeheartedly with the Deputy. We share the same desire to have our own medical access programme implemented in its entirety, not in a piecemeal way. We can divert our attention to address the issue in a piecemeal way or we can implement our own programme in full, which is a much more sustainable solution. The latter is where we are putting our energies, focus, time and effort.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: We do not have an end date. As the Deputy will appreciate, there are a lot of issues to address to bring the programme about. It is not that it is not being done. It is mentioned every month at our management meeting in the Department of Health. 11 o’clock We get updates on progress but I do not have a timeline for when we hope to have the programme established. The Deputy will...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Union Recognition (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: As the Deputy is aware, a branch of the Psychiatric Nurses Association, PNA, called the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, NASRA, has been engaged in industrial action. The PNA states that its industrial action is in connection with two substantive issues. The first is the automated deduction of union subscriptions. The second is the refusal by the HSE to engage in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Union Recognition (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: The reference to industrial relations policy is that there has been a longstanding objective not to have over-fragmentation of representation for workers because that does not lead to coherent representation. It is accepted across the board that it is not helpful to have disparate, fragmented groups representing one sector. Ambulance personnel have three unions that are recognised to choose...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Trade Union Recognition (13 Mar 2019)

Jim Daly: I have already explained the Minister's absence. I cannot keep repeating myself.