Results 13,561-13,580 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Funding (26 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: My Department administers a National Lottery Discretionary Fund from which once-off grants are paid to community and voluntary organisations, providing a range of health related services. Funding in 2015 amounts to €3.286m. If an organisation wishes to make an application for National Lottery Funding they should send in a formal application. Detailed procedures along with the...

Topical Issue Debate: Disease Awareness (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Neville for raising this topic. Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borelliosis, is an infection caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. It is transmitted to humans by bites from ticks infected with the bacterium. Lyme borelliosis was made a statutorily notifiable disease in Ireland by the Infectious Diseases (Amendment Regulations) Regulations 2011. There were 20 cases...

Topical Issue Debate: Disease Awareness (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: It is fair to say there is greater and growing awareness among clinicians and doctors about Lyme disease. One of the difficulties is that there is not full consensus. I cannot speak for the medical profession; I am only here as Minister for Health and not as somebody speaking for the medical profession. However, I would like to refer from the National Institutes of Health in America, one...

Topical Issue Debate: Accident and Emergency Department Waiting Times (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy may well believe he is not trying to make political capital out of a particular issue here-----

Topical Issue Debate: Accident and Emergency Department Waiting Times (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: -----but the issue he asked to raise is the overcrowding crisis in emergency departments, which is compromising patient dignity. He went on to raise a specific issue about an individual in a particular hospital, whose complaint relates to the poor care the patient received on a specialist geriatric ward, not in an emergency department.

Topical Issue Debate: Accident and Emergency Department Waiting Times (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I have been in contact with the chairman of Beaumont about that matter because it is an issue of public concern and it is always a matter of concern to me when I hear of complaints about how people are treated on wards or in emergency departments in our hospitals, even though the vast majority of people who do speak to me tell me they have a very good experience of our hospitals once they get...

Topical Issue Debate: Accident and Emergency Department Waiting Times (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The €25 million is not all spent but it is all fully employed and committed. When provision is made for an additional 300 fair deal spaces and 400 homecare packages, they do not get turned off at a certain point. They must be funded throughout the year. The €25 million is not all spent, but it will all be spent because we are not going to take away those fair deal spaces or...

Topical Issue Debate: Accident and Emergency Department Waiting Times (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As I confirmed several weeks ago, when the HSE put in its bid for 2015 it requested an additional €1.4 billion, to solve pretty much all our problems in the health service, if one believes that money alone can solve all the problems in the service. I imagine other agencies, like the NRA or the Department of Education and Skills, also put in very high figures for what they would like...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The National Waiting List Management Policy, A standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, January 2014,has been developed to ensure that all administrative, managerial and clinical staff follow an agreed national minimum standard for the management and administration of waiting lists for scheduled care. This policy, which has...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I have asked the HSE to look into this matter and to respond to the Deputy directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointment Delays (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. Should a patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he or she would be in the best position to take the matter up with the consultant and hospital involved. In relation to the specific case raised, as this is a service...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Funding (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The HSE funds cord blood collection in cases where the cord blood stem cells are collected for donation to an identified family member in high risk families. In these cases the collection is clinically indicated by a consultant overseeing care and is undertaken in collaboration with the Irish Blood Transfusion Service. The HSE does not fund the collection of cord blood stem cells for...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I have asked the HSE to look into this matter and to respond to the Deputy directly. If she has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days she should contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Treatment Abroad Scheme (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Treatment Abroad Scheme (TAS) as provided for in EU Regulations and Department of Health Guidelines, does not include a provision for travel and subsistence expenses for patients or their relatives travelling abroad to avail of approved treatments. However the HSE, subject to available funding, under the Treatment Abroad Scheme Travel Policy, may provide assistance towards reasonable...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As this is an operational matter I have referred this question to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) for direct reply to the Deputy. If you have not received a reply from the NMBI within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Reports (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I have asked the HSE to look into this matter and to respond to the Deputy directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Speech and Language Therapy (3 Mar 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I have asked the HSE to look into this matter and to respond to the Deputy directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.