Results 8,501-8,520 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: I am not trying to say there are no difficulties.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: I have not tried in any way to stonewall the Deputy's questions or say there are no difficulties, and neither is the Minister for Health saying so. There have been interventions in this regard.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: I gave a list of real measures that are currently being taken, particularly in regard to the recruitment of consultants. The Deputy acknowledges that we have had difficulty in achieving this. The Minister acknowledges that. However, real and tangible efforts are being made and achievements are being secured in respect of the recruitment of consultants. There are difficulties in...
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: I am just giving the Deputy the facts.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: The ward will reopen in the autumn. It needs to be upgraded, it is being upgraded and it will reopen in the autumn. If it could be done more quickly than that, it would be.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: It is being achieved as best the HSE and the hospital concerned can manage. Regarding the Galway situation, I have pointed out to the Deputy the difficulty regarding recruitment. I will be straight with him on the rheumatology situation there. The hospital is trying to secure a locum for the summer, but it simply has not been successful in doing so.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: The Deputy is correct. It has not been possible to secure a locum but real efforts are being made.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: There is nobody more concerned and more engaged with this issue than the Minister himself and the HSE directors and managers involved in this issue.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: We accept that there is a difficulty but significant progress is being made. Deputy Calleary makes no reference to the legacy of the policies, including health policies, of the previous Government. He makes no reference, of course, because it would not suit his case-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: -----to the economic collapse which has such an impact on all public services, including the health service.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: As one of the more reasonable Deputies on the opposite side-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: -----Deputy Calleary must give some credit to the achievement of this Government in turning around a shocking economic context and success in managing-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: -----to keep and maintain a health service, which has difficulties and problems to which he referred and which I do not deny, but which is making real progress in the interests of the patients who it is there to serve and the wider community.
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: First, lone parents have been at a much greater risk of poverty primarily due, as Deputy McDonald will be aware and will have to appreciate, to them being absent from the workforce for most of their working life, and that is an issue that is being addressed here in these reforms. That scenario is not a good one for a parent and it is not a good one for a child. The reforms that are taking...
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: We have expanded the child care system. We subsidised 25,000 child care places for low-income parents. However, I accept that child care services and facilities should improve as soon as possible. This is why the Minister, Deputy Reilly, has an interdepartmental group examining how best to do that. Our child care system is nothing like what we want it to be or what it should be. I accept...
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: Clearly, a resource issue is involved. We must find resources in order to expand child care. As the economy continues to recover and as more people work or are available to work, which is a good thing, access to child care will put pressure on them. This is something that the current Government, for the remainder of its life, and the next Government, whichever parties comprise it, will...
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: On the Deputy's question regarding the legacy of poverty for lone parents, she is right about the position. While there have been significant levels of State spending on lone parents and improvements have been made to the one-parent family payment down the years, it is still the case that lone parents are considerably more at risk of consistent poverty than the population as a whole. It is...
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: -----that these reforms are being introduced. What has been done to date has not been successful. The Deputy agrees that a job is the best route out of poverty. We must not only ensure that we do not maintain a dependency on welfare, as I assume that no one, including the Deputy, wants that, but we must help to motivate and facilitate people in accessing the workplace-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: -----and getting more hours where they already work and ensure that the system supports them-----
- Leaders' Questions (25 Jun 2015)
Alex White: -----they are listened to when they attend at Intreo offices and so on-----