Results 11,501-11,520 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Written Answers — Department of Health: Narcolepsy Issues (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive. The management of cases taken by persons who allege they developed Narcolepsy and/or Cataplexy as a result of receiving the H1N1 vaccine, Pandemrix, is delegated to SCA and, as such, the Government has no role in determining how...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The Herity Report recommended that the operating hours of the existing cath lab at University Hospital Waterford be extended to meet the needs of its effective catchment population. Pending the recruitment required to extend the opening hours, a mobile cath lab providing diagnostic services, was deployed at the hospital in October 2017. The HSE has advised that, due to Covid-19...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As the Deputy will be aware, the HSE recently published its Winter Plan for 2020-2021 which set out a range of initiatives that, among other things, targeted acute and ED overcrowding. Amongst the key objectives of the plan are an improvement in patient experience times in Emergency Department settings and a reduction of 30% on the previous year’s trolley count. Extended opening...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Tribunals of Inquiry (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Concerns in respect of the CervicalCheck Tribunal and how CervicalCheck cases would be dealt with were raised with me by the 221+ patient support group at a meeting on 2 September. I responded to the issues raised by the group at those meetings in my letter of 20 October, informing the group of the Tribunal’s establishment day, and in further letters of 27 and 28 October. Further...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Tests (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The HSE has worked intensively over the last number of months to put in place a comprehensive testing and tracing operation. We now have standing capacity to test 120,000 people every week. We are now able to conduct automatic testing of close contacts, serial testing in high risk environments and large-scale testing in outbreak situations. We are now proactively finding more cases than...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Reform (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: A clear governance and accountability framework was identified as a key building block of Sláintecare by the Committee on the Future of Healthcare. As part of its recommendations in this area, the Committee called for the HSE to become a more strategic and patient-focused ‘national centre’ carrying out national level functions, and the establishment of regional bodies with...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Since March, the HSE, the Health sector Trade Unions and the Department have engaged, up to twice weekly and as required, on all matters pertaining to the evolving COVID-19 public health emergency. This engagement has been constructive in progressing industrial relations issues that have arisen since the beginning of the pandemic. With regard to the public health doctors, my Department...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Vaccination Programme (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The Government has expanded the provision of seasonal influenza vaccination without charge to all of those in the HSE-defined at-risk groups, including healthcare workers, and to all children aged from 2 to 12 years. Vaccines are being administered via GPs and pharmacists, as in previous years. GP practices and pharmacists commenced their vaccination programmes in early October with...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: It is vital that people in Ireland adhere to public health guidance and advice in order to suppress the spread of Covid 19 and the vast majority of people in Ireland are doing just that. Unfortunately, however, enforcement is sometimes required but always as a last resort. In that respect, the Deputy will be aware that the Health (Amendment) Act 2020 was passed by the Oireachtas on 23 October...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: A Memorandum of Understanding was formally agreed by the Chief Medical Officers of the Department of Health and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland on 7 April 2020. This built on the long-standing cooperation and collaboration between health authorities and across the health systems in Ireland North and Southand strengthened that cooperation in relation to the public health response...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Carer's Support Grant (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Family carers provide selfless and dedicated care to their loved ones, and the Government recognises that the caring role can be challenging, particularly in the current circumstances. Budget 2021 contains additional funding for initiatives to support carers in their vital role, including funding for a range of measures to support service users. Such measures include five million additional...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Vaccine Damage Compensation Scheme (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Proposals regarding a no-fault vaccine compensation scheme have been under consideration for some time. My Department asked the Health Research Board (HRB) to carry out an evidence review on vaccine injury redress programmes in other jurisdictions. The review was completed in March 2019 and can now be found on the HRB website. This matter is under consideration by my Department. In...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disability Services Funding (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: In the first budget of this Government, my Department has secured €100 million in additional funding to start delivering on the commitments made in the Programme for Government to people with disabilities. The additional investment will increase the total disabilities budget for 2021 to around 2.2 billion, of which €100 million will fund new initiatives targeted at five key...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cancer Screening Programmes (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Tests (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The recruitment campaign for the role of community swabber ran during September, closing on the 21st September. The campaign received great interest from the public. The high number of applicants is a further testament to the community spirit and willingness to help in any way possible by members of the public to the ongoing response to the pandemic. The Health Service Executive received...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: This winter is expected to be particularly challenging due to the presence of Covid-19 and the uncertainty around the level of Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 healthcare demands. The Department of Health is working with the HSE to increase critical care and general acute bed capacity in hospitals throughout the country to meet demand. Significant work has been underway in 2020 to increase...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Home Accommodation (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly in relation to this matter.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Tests (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.