Results 11,761-11,780 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Seanad: Matters on the Adjournment: Nursing Home Services (30 Sep 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Senator Burke for raising this important issue and for allowing me to address the matter. I am answering on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who is responsible for social care. The HSE is responsible for the delivery of health and personal care services. The current health reform programme involves a major change process which will see a greater integration...

Seanad: Matters on the Adjournment: Nursing Home Services (30 Sep 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The Senator makes a very good point. I must admit I have never read the contract of a dietician so I am not sure what is in it. Many of them would be private to the individuals concerned. However, what would seem to me to be eminently logical is where a dietician is part of a primary care team or is employed within the community, that he or she would be available to go to nursing homes and...

Seanad: Matters on the Adjournment: Fire Service (30 Sep 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Senator Daly for raising this matter. I am responding to the debate on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly. It relates to the development of fire services in Ireland using the standards and norms in the policy document Keeping Communities Safe, KCS. It is a function of each individual fire authority, under the Fire Services...

Seanad: Matters on the Adjournment: Fire Service (30 Sep 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I am not fully sure, but what I am told is that it is an objective in KCS for each service to develop a new format fire and emergency operations plan. That is provided for in section 26 of the Fire Services Act. Proposed plans are then put forward for consideration and adoption by the relevant county council or city council. All services are developing section 26 plans, taking account of...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service Staff (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The question raised by the Deputy is a matter for the HSE and I have requested that they respond directly to you.

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Legal Cases (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The query raised by the Deputy is a matter for the HSE. Accordingly, I have asked the HSE to collate this information and respond directly to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: In relation to the detailed query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to him directly.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Strategies (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware of the recently published Irish Heart Foundation report Towards Earlier Discharge, Better Outcomes, Lower Cost: Stroke Rehabilitation in Ireland. The implementation of any recommendations of that Report are within the remit of the HSE, who will respond further to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Budgets (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The amount allocated to my Department's Vote and the outturn by subhead for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 are published by the Comptroller and Auditor General in the Appropriation Account for the Vote each year. These Appropriation Accounts are available on the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General's website. The table below sets out the amount allocated by subhead for 2014 for my...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Local Drugs Task Forces Funding (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: In furtherance of the National Drugs Strategy, my Department administers a Drugs Initiative which primarily funds community based drugs initiatives supported by Local and Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Forces. The budget allocation for the fourteen Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces for each of the years referred to by the Deputy is set out in the table. Task Force 2011 2012 2013...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Local Drugs Task Forces (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: There are fourteen Local Drug and Alcohol Task Forces - twelve in Dublin, one in Bray and another in Cork. 10 Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Forces cover the remainder of the country. The coordinator plays a pro-active role in driving the work of the Drug and Alcohol Task Force and managing its day-to-day operation. The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the coordinators...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Life Expectancy Data (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Life expectancy for men and women at the level of geography requested by the Deputy is not available. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) produce official statistics on life expectancy but not at the level of electoral division. Further published information on life expectancy is available on the CSO's website, www.cso.ie.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Proposed Legislation (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The Government has approved an extensive package of measures to deal with alcohol misuse to be incorporated in a Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. These measures are based on the recommendations contained in the Steering Group Report on a National Substance Misuse Strategy, 2012. The package of measures to be implemented will include provision for minimum unit pricing, regulation of the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: A new Nurses and Midwives Act was passed into legislation in 2011. The Act provides, inter alia, for the protection of the public in its dealings with nurses and midwives and the enhancement of their high standards of professional education and competencies. The Department of Health is responsible for oversight of the governance of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). The...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: In relation to the particular patient query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to him directly.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff Remuneration (1 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: As provided for in the Haddington Road Agreement the rate of pay for participants in the Graduate Nurse Programme is 85% of the first point of the January 2011 staff nurse scale in the first year progressing to 90% in year two of participation. These rates apply to graduate mental health nurses and general nurses. As the pay of mental health staff nurses is slightly higher than general staff...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Clinical Indemnity Scheme (2 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The Clinical Indemnity Scheme (CIS) covers the clinical activities of public health doctors, nurses, dentists and other community based clinical staff providing services on behalf of the Health Services Executive (HSE). Apart from this Scheme, the Clinical Indemnity Scheme does not provide indemnity to healthcare professionals who are providing private services in the community (i.e. those...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Patient Safety (2 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 134 together. My Department has been informed by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) that it supported discussions between the Health Service Executive, Beaumont Hospital and Cork University Hospital which resulted in the publication in 2010 of Guidelines for the Management of a Patient with a Sub arachnoid Haemorrhage. Governance of...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Procedures (2 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: In relation to the detailed query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to him directly.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointment Status (2 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: In relation to the Deputy's further question in relation to this patient, I have again asked the Health Service Executive to respond to him directly in this matter.