Results 5,981-6,000 of 11,979 for speaker:Billy Kelleher

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Health Services Provision (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: And the progressions.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Health Services Provision (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: We had the Minister for the hyperbole on this side of the House then.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Health Services Provision (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: We never abandoned our colleagues.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Health Services Provision (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: Half those people-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Health Services Provision (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: I am being a responsible Opposition Member.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Health Services Provision (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: Will the sums be on it this time?

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. The consensual arrangement we had earlier in regard to the sunbeds legislation has to stop at this stage and we have to go into a more adversarial mode. I do that in the best interests of the need for us to have a very open debate on how we fund our health services in the years ahead. Reference was made in the Minister's opening speech to...

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: I am highlighting the problems and would like to highlight the solutions some day. In the meantime, there is no point in me coming into this House and pretending, as the Minister is doing, that everything is okay. Everything is not okay.

Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: The point we make is that this legislation will not add anything to patient safety and the delivery of health care. There were a few planks in the Minister's manifesto. The key one was the development of primary care and the other one was to move to universal health insurance. We are certainly putting the cart before the horse in this legislation in respect of the abolition of the HSE,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service Provision (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: 53. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the concerns that have been expressed regarding the ambulance service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6925/14]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Consultants Recruitment (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: 39. To ask the Minister for Health if he and the Health Service Executive will be making any changes to the terms and conditions in place for the recruitment of new hospital consultants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6923/14]

Written Answers — Department of Health: General Medical Services Scheme Administration (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: 41. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the negotiation of a new GP contract; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6922/14]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cancer Incidence (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: 51. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the recent UN report which forecasts a major increase in the incidence of cancer over the next 20 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6926/14]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Data (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: 58. To ask the Minister for Health the number of discretionary medical cards he expects there to be at the end of 2014; the number there was at the end of 2013; the number of new discretionary medical cards issued in 2013; the number withdrawn in 2013; the number of discretionary medical cardholders who were awarded a non-discretionary medical card in 2013; and if he will make a statement on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentations. If one were to listen to what they had to say, one would be convinced that the tobacco industry is a benign industry that is well aware of its social obligations and its obligations to consumers. When one looks at the international evidence, however, one finds that is clearly not the case. There is a strong body of evidence to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: There is a telephone going off somewhere.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: I do not think iPads interfere with the sound system in the same way. As a State, we have an obligation to try to protect all our citizens. I remind Mr. Mallon that this includes adults as well as children. Adults who are ill also generate additional costs as it costs the State money to treat people who have acquired illnesses or diseases through smoking. There are many reasons the State...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: I am bringing the argument to a human level. While I do not suggest that any of the companies represented target children in this country, the bottom line is that the tobacco industry, like every other industry, needs customers. Its customers die and it needs new customers. There is no point in recruiting a customer who is 75 years of age. The tobacco industry wants to recruit them at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: I do not want to be repetitive. I read the Law Society's submission with interest and the submissions of the various other stakeholders in this pre-legislative consultation. I assume the representatives are here because they are advocates not of the tobacco industry, but of the protection of intellectual property rights. I assume that is their focus. However, in their submission they...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Feb 2014)

Billy Kelleher: This goes to show that when politicians, barristers, lawyers and solicitors are in the same room, there are several outcomes. I emphasise at the outset that intellectual property and trademark rights are critical to this economy. Of course it is of huge significance for such rights to be defended and vindicated. International software companies have made huge investments in this country....