Results 15,461-15,480 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Accommodation Provision (16 Jul 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.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Education (16 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I wish to thank the Deputy for the matter raised. Given that this is an operational matter, it is appropriate that it should be dealt with by the NMBI. I have referred the Deputy's question to the NMBI for attention and direct reply. 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: Hospital Waiting Lists (16 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 604 and 605 together. As these are service matters, 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.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cancer Services (16 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy's question relates to service delivery matters and accordingly I have asked the HSE to respond directly to her. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow up the matter with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service Response Times (16 Jul 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.

Confidence in Taoiseach, the Attorney General and the Government: Motion (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I rise to support the motion of confidence in the Government, Taoiseach and Attorney General and oppose the Opposition motions. We have had the Fennelly commission and people, of course, are entitled to their own opinions about the circumstances that gave rise to the Commissioner's retirement. However, there are some things that no one can dispute. We had a commission of inquiry...

Confidence in Taoiseach, the Attorney General and the Government: Motion (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: -----but it does mean that he or she should not be subjected to the same kind of political attacks as politicians are, namely, votes of no confidence in Chambers where he or she does not sit and cannot even respond or defend himself or herself. The Opposition has not just made a mistake in trying to drag the Attorney General into this artificial contest to attack the Government. It has...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I move amendment No. 1:To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following: acknowledges:— that improving waiting times for scheduled and unscheduled care are key priorities for Government; — the wide-ranging set of actions which are being put in place by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to achieve improvements in the delivery of...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: That is not PR spin or a grand plan; it is just a fact. The number of consultants has increased.

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I remind the Deputy that the four and a half year period in question involved an extraordinary recession and budget cuts.

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: It is quite significant that there are 290 more consultants now than there were when we took office. We have taken on more new consultants in the first half of-----

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I remind the Deputy that his party's policy proposes an extra 40 consultants a year.

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, but if we had had 40 a year up until now, that would have been 200. We have actually had a rate of increase higher than that in the policy the Deputy's party is putting forward.

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: We have taken on more new consultants in the first half of this year than were taken on in the whole of 2014. Following an extensive and robust consultant recruitment campaign, up to 130 additional consultants are expected to be appointed in the current year. I remind the Deputy that his party has promised 40. I expect that the improved pay scales for new entrant consultants agreed with...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Pay restoration and reductions in tax and USC which I hope the Deputy's party will not oppose will also be of assistance. It has also been necessary to significantly increase the number of non-consultant hospital doctors in hospitals to support service delivery and progress compliance with the European working time directive. The number of non-consultant hospital doctors which has increased...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As Minister for Health, I do not have the luxury of firing off proposals and platitudes as if they were paper aeroplanes without caring where, how or even whether they land. I have to worry about patients. Above all, I have to worry about good patient outcomes. The changes I have outlined are making a difference for many patients. In addition, all of these initiatives have been costed and...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: We held it steady. The Deputy is free to interrupt. When one does not like the facts, it is normal behaviour to try to interrupt someone because-----

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Obviously, the Deputy does not want the facts to be heard but the facts are there-----

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: -----and Fianna Fáil's proposals, with Deputy Kelleher as health spokesperson, provided only an additional €94 million for health. We will spend multiples of that by the time we get to the end of this year. They also managed to cut €1.5 billion from health between 2008 and 2011 while we held it steady and now that the economy is recovering we are increasing it. A strong...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Negligence Claims (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The State Claims Agency has supplied the information requested by the Deputy in aggregate format, by specialty, as set out in the table below. The State Claims Agency has indicated that the reason it does not publish data concerning the number of legal claims against individual hospitals is that publication of such data could potentially identify a particular plaintiff. Many claims are...