Results 7,081-7,100 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh gach éinne ar ais anseo inniu. I welcome everybody back after the Christmas break. I am concerned that private health insurance is becoming harder to afford, especially for older people, as insurers increasingly tailor their insurance plans towards younger, healthier customers. I am strongly committed to protecting community rating, whereby older and...

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: With regard to the comments made on people leaving the health insurance market, there is no doubt families trying to afford to take out insurance are feeling pressure. However, it must be stated the results of surveys which have shown that up to 700,000 people will leave the health insurance markets reflect the results of surveys undertaken in the past which showed similar figures but which...

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: One of the prime reasons people have to give up private health insurance is that they have lost their jobs and I do not need to remind the Deputy as to the reasons for this. Thankfully, there are now fewer than 450,000 people unemployed; last month there was a drop in the number on the live register for the first time in a number of years. That is the main reason people cannot afford to...

National Service Plan 2012 (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: The HSE submitted its draft National Service Plan 2012 to me on 23 December last and it is currently under consideration in my Department. In line with the Health Act 2004, the plan sets out the type and volume of services to be delivered by the executive for the moneys allocated under its Vote. The budget provision for 2012 represents a major challenge to the HSE and comes at a time of...

National Service Plan 2012 (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: In answer to the first question on when we sign off on this - it is next Friday - Friday the 13th.

National Service Plan 2012 (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: There you go. Not being of a superstitious nature I do not see any problem with that date. That is what the law requires me to do and that is what will be done. The Deputy opposite has correctly highlighted the difficulties that will arise in maintaining services. That will be especially so if it is to be business as usual, but it will not be business as usual. In reply to a previous...

National Service Plan 2012 (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: Nobody is more frustrated than a surgeon or physician trying to do a procedure who is not able to do the work planned for the day because of a lack of beds, personnel, nursing staff or an anaesthetist. That comes down to organisation and planning, which will be addressed. The productive theatre initiative which applied in five theatres - that is only 2.5% of theatres - saved €2.5 million....

National Service Plan 2012 (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I share your frustration, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle at the lack of time. These are important issues and I am prepared to spend as much time as can be given to them. For the information of the House, because of meetings which took place regarding the service plan between me and my fellow Ministers and the Minister, Deputy Howlin and his Department, through a re-understanding of how to deal with...

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: The gross current budget for the Health Vote group for 2012 is €13,644 million. An additional €79 million is to be raised through a number of measures to increase the level of income from private patients treated in public hospitals and to improve the collection rate of these charges. This reflects the Government's savings target of €183 million for the health sector in 2012. In...

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: With respect, the system is working. Let us look at the facts, rather than the rhetoric and hyperbole. Perhaps the Deputy missed the point made, but the figure will be €750 million, not €868 million, as I explained to Deputy Ó Caoláin. I disagree that the service has collapsed and I stand over this assertion. The trolley count, week after week and month after month up to August last...

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I said the Government's health policy would be based on evidence based information. I challenge the Deputy to go to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation trolley count site and measure the results. The figures indicated have been agreed by the organisation and us. There is a dispute in one or two areas because, as happened today in particular, there was an alarming difference between...

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: As part of budget 2012, the Government agreed a number of changes to charges for patients who chose to be treated on a private basis in public hospitals. These changes will have no impact on public patients who comprise the vast majority of those treated in public hospitals. When individuals elect to be treated privately, they agree to meet the consultants' fees and the hospitals'...

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I remind the Deputy that his party's policy was to charge the full economic cost.

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: The Deputy is not.

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I am saying that increases in charges will hurt families; there is no question about that. Why was no effort made over the 50 years of monopoly, most of them under Fianna Fáil Governments, particularly over the past 12 years, to address the costs of medical care here? Why is it possible for an individual to make €1 million out of a single company? Too much has clearly been paid for the...

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: We do not have to go too far back in history to find that rises in premiums in recent years were the most astonishing rises of all. I want a situation where the costs to the insurers are examined and reduced in a meaningful way and, therefore, the cost of premiums should be reduced as well. I do not suggest that some of the changes we have made will not cause upward pressure, I say that...

HSE Senior Management Remuneration (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: As a step toward achieving this goal, I will bring legislation forward involving significant changes in the governance of the HSE. The legislation will abolish the board of the HSE and will replace the board structure with a directorate structure. The purpose of the new directorate structure is to drive greater transparency, accountability and efficiency, and to reshape the system to better...

HSE Senior Management Remuneration (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I assure the Deputy that he will have plenty of opportunity to discuss this in coming weeks. I intend to introduce the legislation at the earliest possible time - probably towards the end of next month. As I said in my original response, we are doing this because I want much clearer sight of money. We know what happened during the fair deal issue when moneys were put aside to accommodate...

HSE Senior Management Remuneration (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I can assure the Deputy that the needs of patients and patient experience are to the fore of everything we are doing. That is the key issue for us. The Deputy is correct that many people who work within the service believe we are only moving the old pieces at the top again and that this will make no difference to them. It may not be easy to see when one is down on the floor working hard...

HSE Senior Management Remuneration (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: Yes.