Results 15,181-15,200 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Historically, there has been significant variation in mental health funding across the country. This was influenced by the location of major mental health institutions and different priorities on the part of health boards over the years. The establishment of the HSE mental health division in mid-2013 created a national management structure for all mental health services. In 2014, the...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure it is ever a good idea to set a crude percentage figure as to what percentage of the health budget, or any budget, should be spent on anything. The reality is that some health care is more expensive than others. One of the areas that is enormously expensive is cancer because of the cost of the new medicines that become available every year. Even though fewer people may have...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I was not prepared for questions from the Deputy on Wexford specifically. I do not have a briefing on it with me but certainly I will convey his comments on the matter to the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and perhaps she can speak to the Deputy.

Other Questions: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The nursing homes support scheme, the fair deal scheme, is a system of financial support for those in need of long-term nursing home care. Participants contribute according to their means while the State pays the balance of the cost. In 2015, the scheme has an allocation of €993 million. In budget 2015, additional funding of €25 million was provided to support services...

Other Questions: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: There are a number of questions there. The Fair Deal review is done and I expect it to be published in the next few weeks. It does not so much make recommendations as suggest different things that could be done to make the scheme more sustainable in the years to come. It then makes recommendations about alternative ways of funding home care in a better way. There are lots of other things...

Other Questions: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: An additional €5 million was provided this year to provide an additional 400 home care packages to the benefit of 600 people. The waiting time for a package varies from region to region quite significantly, which is a real difficulty. The HSE has been given flexibility to spend more on home care packages where it is running into trouble in staffing units. Where the HSE cannot get...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Provision (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: It has been the experience of north Dublin mental health service clinicians that most of the cases presenting to the emergency department at Beaumont Hospital out of hours and referred to the on-call psychiatry team are complex and multifaceted and often require the input of other hospital services. Persons presenting, for example, with intoxication, overdose, confusion or self-harm require...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Provision (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to say that all major emergency departments have security on site. It is not just mental health patients who can attack staff or other patients. It is a very sad feature of our health service that sometimes patients attack staff. It can be true for ambulance crew and even reception staff. It is an unfortunate reality that we have to face all the time. When psychiatric...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Provision (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have the figures, but it is certainly the case that assaults on staff occur at other hospitals. It is a particular feature of psychiatric hospitals and care homes and it can also be a feature in emergency departments. It is not particular to the health service; it happens to gardaí, prison officers and teachers also. It is never acceptable for public servants to be assaulted...

Other Questions: Mental Health Services Provision (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: No, I am not, but that is beside the point.

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I am committed to securing and further developing the role of Portlaoise hospital as a constituent hospital within the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, which also includes St. James's, Tallaght, Tullamore, Naas and the Coombe hospitals. The hospital group and the HSE acute hospitals division are examining the scope of services in Portlaoise, and other hospitals in the group, subsequent to...

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I am told now that a report will probably not be ready until sometime in September. That is down to the fact that so much consultation has to take place with everyone who is affected, not only the staff in the hospital but GPs in the area and, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, the impacts that this may have on other hospitals such as those in Naas, Tallaght and Tullamore. I am told it...

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: We all need to consider this one carefully because we have to ask ourselves what consultant cover actually means. We have very large emergency departments in this country with four and five emergency department consultants who are not in the departments after 6 o'clock or 8 o'clock at night. They are on-call from home or, in some cases, they will not cover weekends. Even with four or five...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Mental Health Services Provision (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I understand the Deputy's question relates to a specific case and that the child in question is being cared for by the appropriate services. The HSE Mental Health Division supports timely access to appropriate services to address the mental health needs of all children from a preventative care model and early intervention perspective. It should be noted, however, that mental health...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Improving waiting lists for scheduled care is a key priority for Government. In January I put in place maximum permissible waiting times for inpatient and day case treatment and outpatient appointments of 18 months by 30 June and 15 months by year end. As of 30 June, the HSE is reporting a 99.6% achievement against the maximum permissible waiting time for inpatient and day case treatment and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Tax Yield (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I have consulted with my colleague the Minister of Finance on this matter and he has advised me that he is generally not in favour of the hypothecation of tax revenue, as it reduces the flexibility of the Government to prioritise and allocate funds as necessary at a particular time. He further advised that taxation and expenditure decisions should be driven by their overall effectiveness...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Staff Provision (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Emergency Department Task Force that reported earlier this year identified a number of factors that contributed to the increase in overcrowding at accident and emergency departments in 2014, including growth in delayed discharges, difficulties in attracting and retaining senior clinical decision makers and long average length of stay due to an increase in very elderly patients. Challenges...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Expenditure (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Payment in respect of “twilight shift”, from 8pm until end of shift, commenced in a number of locations in the Intellectual Disability Sector since Jan 1 2015. These include Brothers of Charity Galway, Brothers of Charity Roscommon, Ability West and KARE. The process of commencing such payments is also underway in Brothers of Charity Waterford. The issue of retrospective...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Maternal Mortality (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware the issue of inquests into maternal deaths is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality and I understand that the Deputy was advised of the procedures in relation to Coroner's Inquests in a response to a recent Parliamentary Question put to my colleague. My officials have not had any discussions with the Department of Justice and Equality...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The HSE has advised that due to consultant staff shortages, a number of rheumatology outpatient clinics in GUH are being postponed during the months of July and August 2015. New appointments will be rescheduled as soon as possible and urgent patients will continue to be seen. There are currently 3 consultants in Galway University Hospital, covering OPD clinics, a day ward service in...