Results 7,381-7,400 of 11,979 for speaker:Billy Kelleher

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: I thank the Minister of State for her reply. We could have this debate until we see the roll-out of universal free general practitioner care, but there is an interim period. As the Minister of State has limited resources and limited opportunity to introduce the various policies, she has to prioritise and make decisions in the context of what cohorts get the various resources. The Central...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: We do accept, in terms of the provision of medical care, that there is always an element of universality in some decisions, but when the Minister of State is making a decision to rule out further additional universality, this has an impact in other areas. There is no point in saying otherwise. We should be clear. There has been a change in how the Department is assessing discretionary...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: HSE Funding (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: 4. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the financial position of the Health Service Executive; his views on whether the executive has sufficient funding to deliver its 2015 service plan without recourse to a Supplementary Estimate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8306/15]

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: HSE Funding (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: I am requesting an update on the HSE's financial position and asking whether the Minister is confident that the HSE has sufficient funding to deliver its 2015 service plan without recourse to a Supplementary Estimate.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: HSE Funding (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: The Minister said his first aim was to draw up a realistic budget in the context of last year's Estimates and on the basis of negotiations with his Cabinet colleagues, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. Already, however, on 24 February, it is clear we do not have a realistic budget. The Minister repeatedly tells us things will get worse before they...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: HSE Funding (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: The Minister's response does not give us much comfort. He says we have a realistic budget which is on course and on target. If that is so, then my concern is that the Minister is saying that having 550 people on trolleys in emergency departments on a daily basis and people waiting 12 and 14 weeks for a bed under the fair deal scheme is acceptable. Surely these numbers do not represent a...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: 9. To ask the Minister for Health when he expects an improvement in both the numbers on waiting lists and the numbers on trolleys in emergency departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8031/15]

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: When does the Minister for Health expect to see an improvement in the numbers on the waiting lists and the numbers on trolleys in emergency departments and will he make a statement on the matter?

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: We have referred to the fair deal scheme problem in detail in a previous question. When one adds all the waiting lists together, there are 76,666 patients waiting for inpatient, day case or gastro-intestinal procedures, according to the most recent report from the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF. The Minister is as aware of the figures as I am. We cannot just acknowledge that it...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: I accept that.

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: The Minister’s party outlined a roadmap in advance of the election and in the programme for Government. We can travel that road for a long time but it did make many promises and campaigned on many issues, none of which has been implemented, including free GP care for everybody, Roscommon, Mallow and Bantry hospitals etc. - name them and the Minister’s party campaigned on them....

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: Is the Minister confirming he is a neoconservative?

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: Is this Question Time or just some sort of general circus?

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: He made enough of them previously to keep him going.

Other Questions: Drugs-related Deaths (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: 11. To ask the Minister for Health the number of deaths caused by drugs; and if he will provide a specific figure for those involving methadone in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8033/15]

Other Questions: Drugs-related Deaths (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: What is the number of deaths caused by drugs? Specifically how many people have been using methadone in each of the past five years? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter? Could we have a broader discussion in the context of the methadone treatment programme itself?

Other Questions: Drugs-related Deaths (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: I thank the Minister for his reply and welcome the fact that there is a commitment to carry out a review of our drug treatment programmes and the national drugs strategy. Let us be very clear: this has fallen off the political agenda. That is many people's fault but the key issue is that there is a major problem of drug abuse in the State. It is escalating continually. With regard to...

Other Questions: Drugs-related Deaths (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: I do not expect the Minister to answer my next question if he does not know the details. In the context of rolling out the naloxone programme, will Garda stations and other places in areas of high drug use have naloxone available? It seems that while we make some efforts in the treatment of heroin and opiate addicts, in particular, we seem to be happy enough just to give them methadone and...

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Second Stage (Resumed) (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: I welcome the publication of this Bill. As other speakers have said, it is a substantial, detailed and intricate piece of legislation. It would take some time for any Member of the House to fully digest it. The legislation will be a fundamental building block in how we acknowledge family formation in the years ahead and the diverse make-up of families in modern Irish society. The Bill was...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Review (25 Feb 2015)

Billy Kelleher: 24. To ask the Minister for Health his plans for the fair deal scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8029/15]