Results 6,861-6,880 of 15,268 for speaker:Kathleen Lynch

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Issues (11 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: The information requested by the Deputy is not available in my Department. However, I have asked the HSE to provide the information it has available directly to you in relation these matters.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disability Support Services Issues (11 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: The media has reported that a female with a disability who was being transported by bus from her home to the Moorehaven Training Centre in Co Tipperary was allegedly left on a locked bus all day. The HSE has assured the Department of Health that it is working with the Moorehaven Training Centre to establish why this incident went unnoticed. The HSE has been in continual contact with the...

Housing (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: Now.

Housing (Amendment) Bill 2013: Report and Final Stages (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: On behalf of the Minister responsible, I thank the Deputies for their contributions. While this is a short Bill, the Minister has a particular interest in it, as do those who contributed. I thank all those who contributed, which always adds to the value of any item of legislation.

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Order for Report Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I move: "That Report Stage be taken now."

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I think amendment No. 1 is in the name of Deputy Boyd Barrett but it was ruled out of order.

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank the Deputy for his amendment. The Bill provides for the abolition of the board of the HSE - not the HSE itself - and the establishment of a new governance structure, namely, a directorate, which will be headed by a director general. Second, it provides for further accountability arrangements for the HSE. The Bill is a transitional measure and it is intended to help prepare the...

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I would like to respond to Deputy Billy Kelleher by referring to my experience on the Opposition benches. Any of us who comes back into this House is very lucky. I have always viewed being elected or not being elected in that way. The voice of the people is genuinely supreme. Fianna Fáil is opposed to the Bill because it vests too much power in the Minister. For ten years we said...

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: He goes to the committee four times a year.

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: The consultation takes place in advance. It has taken place by the time the report is drawn up. It is not the case that we do not listen. We have quarterly meetings with the committee and it is clear that we listen and take note. The things on which we agree with the committee appear in the service plan. Is the Deputy suggesting the service plan should not be set in stone and that it...

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: One cannot plan a health service on that basis. A health service has to be planned in a clear way. The Minister is not supreme and has to account to his Cabinet colleagues. Equally, he has to account to this Chamber. I find it difficult to take a lecture from the Deputy on political manoeuvrings.

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Report Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: When performing their functions as members of the directorate, appointed directors will act collectively as part of the governing body of the HSE. This is distinct from their individual responsibilities as senior employees in the grade of national director relating to a particular service area. As the Minister indicated on Committee Stage, therefore, it is not feasible for him to accept...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Services Provision (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: The legislation which governs the involuntary admission of patients to approved centres is the Mental Health Act 2001. This Act is being reviewed at present in line with the commitment contained in the Programme for Government to review the Act "informed by human rights standards and in consultation with service users, carers and other stakeholders". The Government and I attach great...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Aids and Appliances Provision (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: The Health Service Executive provides health and personal services such as those referred to by the Deputy. Accordingly the Department has asked the HSE to reply directly to you in relation to the individual you have outlined.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Home Care Packages (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I propose to take Questions Nos. 210 to 212, inclusive. Recent years have been very challenging for the health services. Facing difficult choices, the Government has set as its priority the aim of maintaining services to the greatest extent possible within the resources available. In line with the Programmme for Government, the Department is working closely with the Health Services...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mobility Allowance Decision (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I propose to take Questions Nos. 214, 216 and 217 together. The Government decided yesterday to extend payments of Mobility Allowance to those currently in receipt for a further number of months, pending establishment of new statutory provisions to support the mobility needs of people with severe disabilities. The Government is very conscious of the needs of people with a disability who...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Care of the Elderly (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 674 of 28 May 2013. The position remains unchanged.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Strategy on Suicide Awareness: Discussion (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: I apologise in advance for something that was arranged just last week. I welcome the opportunity to address the committee today. I will not give the entire official speech because members might like to spend more of the limited time we have asking questions. I know a briefing note has been circulated to the members and I hope it has been helpful. Mr. Gerry Raleigh, on my left, is the new...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Strategy on Suicide Awareness: Discussion (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: Eventually we got the five mobile telephone providers together. Up to now the Samaritans had a lo-call number with Eircom, but the organisation was carrying the cost and clearly could not continue to do so. The other thing we discovered was that very few people are now using landlines. Anybody in distress, young people in particular, were using mobile telephones so that number was of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions: Strategy on Suicide Awareness: Discussion (12 Jun 2013)

Kathleen Lynch: We will never reach a point at which we will eliminate death by suicide. There may be years in which it does not happen or suicide deaths do not flash on the radar. Suicide has been an issue across the world. We simply did not count incidents well or acknowledge them to a great extent. We need to capture information on who is dying by suicide, most notably large numbers of young men....