Results 7,401-7,420 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Mary Harney: Yes. Nobody has contended since then that it was not the basis on which a health card should be given. The affected group, which was upset at the time that it did not get the health card, will now get the card because I think it is fair that it should. We are bringing clarity and consistency to this area. The same principles will apply to compensation, insurance and the health card. The...

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Mary Harney: I am not——

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Mary Harney: We accept the blood tests from anti-D product recipients who test negative. It is right that we do. Using Senator Ryan's argument, we would not.

Seanad: Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages. (6 Jul 2006)

Mary Harney: There is no question but loss of consortium is covered by the compensation scheme. In fact, Judge Murphy from the tribunal has assured us that this is fully taken into account because I was sympathetic to introducing an amendment to ensure that young people were not adversely affected because they had not yet formed relationships. What we are doing here is removing the possibility that...

PPARS Review. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: I have sought the up to date position on PPARS from the Health Service Executive and it has informed me as follows: The PPARS system is currently used for recording human resource data for 70,000 HSE staff and is used to pay 30,000 staff each week. The HSE's PPARS project review committee has completed its review. Arising from that, the HSE has decided on a set of actions aimed basically...

PPARS Review. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: It was decided to pursue this course in 1995. I do not wish to make a political point, but nobody on this side of the House was in office when this decision was made. It has recently come to light that the money was not appropriately spent at the time. There was a system for the 11 different health boards. The HSE employed outside consultants to conduct its internal review, which cost...

PPARS Review. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: He appropriately took action. Professor Drumm is the CEO and Accounting Officer of the HSE. I said in my reply that the HSE had gone to tender on this matter, so I cannot speculate on what it will cost until we see the outcome of the tender. Even if we had an idea, we would not want to influence the tender by suggesting what it might be. The roll-out of IT is fundamental to reform of the...

Public Private Partnerships. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: I presume the question refers to allegations published in a number of newspapers regarding a company which has expressed an interest in operating private hospitals on the sites of public hospitals. The company in question has refuted the charges made in the newspaper articles. The Health Service Executive is currently engaged in a public procurement process for the co-location of private...

Public Private Partnerships. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: Members must be careful not to abuse their privileged rights. The company in question has vehemently denied the Deputy's suggestions. I understand many newspapers, on receiving correspondence from the company, did not continue to report on the story. I am not an advocate for any company. Any company that might be awarded a contract by the Health Service Executive would be obliged to be...

Public Private Partnerships. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: We have hardly any experience of public private partnerships. We have experience of public projects being constructed by the private sector. Public private partnerships are about transferring the risk from the public to the private sector, thereby allowing taxpayers' money to be used where one might not attract that kind of interest. As I have frequently noted, the idea that we should fund...

Medical Inquiries. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: At the outset, I wish to convey again my sincere sympathy to the Walsh family on the death of Mr. Patrick J. Walsh. Following his death in Monaghan General Hospital on 14 October 2005, the Health Service Executive commissioned Mr. Declan Carey, a consultant surgeon at Belfast City Hospital and an honorary senior lecturer at Queen's University, and Professor John Monson, professor of surgery...

Medical Inquiries. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: A new protocol for patient transfer has been put in place. It is the responsibility of the HSE to oversee what happens in the different hospitals in the region. We already know that approximately half of the patients in the region attend not local hospitals but hospitals in Dublin. That is the largest ratio of all the regions in the country for people attending Dublin hospitals rather than...

Medical Inquiries. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: Cavan General Hospital has the same number of beds as Mullingar General Hospital. When comparing inpatient activity, day care or accident and emergency activity, there is a huge difference between what is done in Cavan and what is done in Mullingar, and I have said so on the public record on a number of occasions. The authorities in Cavan have visited Mullingar and I welcome that. It is...

Medical Inquiries. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: I only refer to what is in the report. I am not inventing it. It is a huge concern to me as Minister for Health and Children.

Medical Inquiries. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: It is of huge concern if interpersonal relationships interfere with patient safety and care. That is why, as a matter of priority, the HSE has appointed a group, headed by Dr. Eilis McGovern, who is a well-known heart surgeon and well-respected clinician, to oversee the implementation of the recommendations for the region. Clearly there will be difficulties implementing the recommendations...

Medical Inquiries. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: I have substantially increased the capital funding available to the Health Service Executive this year. Once I approve a capital programme, I do not try to find out how it is spent every week. In light of the Teamwork report and given the decision made and endorsed by the Government that we will have a new, state-of-the-art hospital for the region, any decisions made about spending on...

Hospitals Building Programme. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: A review of tertiary paediatric services carried out by McKinsey & Company on behalf of the Health Service Executive recommended the establishment of a single tertiary paediatric hospital in Dublin, co-located with a leading adult academic hospital. Subsequently, a joint HSE-Department of Health and Children task group was established to advise on the optimum location of the proposed new...

Hospitals Building Programme. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: I thought I said I had received it in the past few days.

Hospitals Building Programme. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: I have read only the summary. I intend to read it over the next few days. It is a technical report and I am not a building expert who knows about land size and so on but I will read it.

Hospitals Building Programme. (27 Sep 2006)

Mary Harney: Before I became Minister for Health and Children I had given little consideration to paediatric services and knew little about them. Since then, virtually every paediatrician I met in this city and around the country said we should bring the services together and have a state-of-the-art hospital. We were planning to build a new hospital in Crumlin, probably on-site, and a new hospital for...