Results 13,421-13,440 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Seanad: Pharmaceutical Pricing: Statements (4 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: The independent body has been asked to report by the end of May. While I have not spoken to the individuals involved, I understand they intend to meet that timeframe and have already had a number of meetings. In fact, I saw an advertisement in the newspapers yesterday inviting submissions. Their intention is to talk to and engage with the various stakeholders and obviously to commission...

Seanad: Pharmaceutical Pricing: Statements (4 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Businesses close from time to time. I will not stand here and say it will not happen. A point of which I am certain is that what we are seeking to do is to have a vibrant pharmacy sector and to have pharmacies accessible to patients throughout the country. We can pride ourselves that even in relatively small places we have successful pharmacies and general practitioners, which is not the...

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I published two reports this morning on the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. The Health Service Executive is publishing reports on the clinical reviews this afternoon. The investigation by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, into the care provided by the HSE for the named individual commenced in June 2007. I am advised that the draft report is going through the...

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I will deal with the Deputy's last question first. Ms Ann Doherty, the acting head of the National Hospitals Office, highlights at the start of her report the fragmented nature of the service which is spread across three hospitals. The report should not be confused with that of Dr. Ann O'Doherty who did the clinical review which is also being published today. The Doherty report mentions...

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I am not appointing more managers — I am simply asking the HSE to put in place a permanent management structure. The primary, community and continuing care unit and the National Hospitals Office, for example, have acting heads.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: There is an acting head in charge of information technology and an acting head in charge of human resources. In fairness, the HSE has gone to the market a couple of times and I understand an appointment is imminent in one case. It has not been easy to fill some of these positions. Some of those originally appointed to fill certain positions have moved on. The first thing I want to see is...

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: A number of people were going to meetings.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: The new cancer control plan would never have happened under the former health boards.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: It would never have happened.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: There is no designated centre in the midlands. I could not imagine one of the old health boards deciding not to designate a centre in its functional area.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Cancer was being treated at three locations in the midlands, which was highly unsafe.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Quality care could not be assured. That was one of the problems.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I certainly am. If somebody is trying to——

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Twenty years ago Fine Gael called for the establishment of a semi-State body to deal with the unified health service.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: No organisation is perfect.

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Nothing short of a unified system of delivery——

Departmental Reports. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I do not accept that.

Ambulance Service. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: My commitment to the continuing development and expansion of the ambulance service is clear from the extent of investment made in the service in recent years. Funding has been allocated by the HSE as part of the fleet replacement policy for the purchase of 67 new ambulances in 2006, 65 new ambulances in 2007 and 50 new ambulances this year. These figures represent a combination of...

Ambulance Service. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: The Deputy referred to Beaumont Hospital the last time I responded to him on Question Time. As he knows, his comments on that occasion were subsequently contradicted by the hospital. We need to be careful when we are putting facts into the public domain through this forum. I mentioned that an additional 50 new ambulances would be purchased this year. That is a considerable commitment.

Ambulance Service. (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: No, the figure relates to the country at large. I do not have the breakdown for Dublin and the rest of the country because the Deputy did not request it in his question. I understand private ambulances deal with emergency calls in a small number of instances. As I said, less than 4% of the budget for ambulance services is spent on private services which have a role to play in supplementing...