Results 15,721-15,740 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The decisions on the locations of the larger vaccination centres were operational decisions of the HSE. To Deputy O'Dowd's point, by no means does this have to be the final and definitive list. If it is the case that a large vaccination centre is required in Drogheda, that will be provided. I wish to give the Deputy some comfort in the fact that people in or around Drogheda do not need to...

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Regarding general practice, we are all aware that a number of GPs have contacted many politicians and have taken to the airwaves to express their frustration. It was always a three-week programme. In week one 255 GP clinics were involved; week two added another 500; this week the number is 542. There is a number. I am told that in about 65 practices where for various reasons it has not...

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the various points she raised. On the question of consumables arriving with vaccines, they should arrive with them. There have been small number of cases where this has not happened, and it is not good enough. The HSE is looking at that and we must demand better. It is common sense the right consumables and syringes to get the sixth dose out of the vials need to...

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: It would take more than a minute or a minute and a half to respond adequately to the Deputy's questions. No one is saying that everything is going perfectly with the roll-out. It is not going perfectly and there have been issues, as discussed here today, in terms of some consumables not arriving and some vaccination dates for GPs having been changed. Nobody is suggesting that it is going...

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will finish on this point. On top of that, we have correctly prioritised those who are most vulnerable.

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his questions and suggestions. I agree on the app. It was a great success. Particularly now that we have moved into the vaccination phase, we could probably do with a review to determine whether there is a bigger role for it. The Deputy will be aware that the vaccination numbers are on the app but I would be very happy to ask my team to conduct a review and...

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: On Deputy Mattie McGrath's statements regarding the flu vaccine----

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will do my best. I was making the point that Deputy Mattie McGrath has continued to make false statements and he is seeking written answers to false statements around flu jabs which obviously we cannot give him.

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. She has used very strong language. Her criticism is essentially a criticism of the thousands of women and men who are working seven days a week to deliver what has been one of the fastest roll-outs in the EU, prioritising our most vulnerable, changing at very short notice from AstraZeneca to the much more complex mRNA vaccine and changing at short notice to the...

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will finish on this.

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy said it was a shambles.

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I would be more than happy to debate it at length and respectfully. I really would. I know we are out of time.

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will be more than happy to engage with the Deputy at length on this at a later date. I was simply responding to the Deputy's charge that the programme was a shambles. I was trying to answer the questions raised.

Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-out Programme: Statements (Resumed) (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: If the House would allow it, I would be more than happy to spend more time with the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 176, 202 and 203 together. As has been the case throughout this pandemic, the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) considers a range of different indicators of disease and compliance, and considers those indicators in context, when making its recommendations to Government. The public health measures in place at any level of the the Government's...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Cards (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health and Social Care Professionals (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: In relation to the particular query raised I have asked CORU (the Health and Social Care Professional Council) to respond to the Deputy directly.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Vaccination Programme (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy sets out a provisional list of groups for vaccination. The Strategy was developed by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and my Department, endorsed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), and approved by Government on 8 December 2020. Vaccine allocation is a matter for my Department and further information is available...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ophthalmology Services (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The HSE is currently recommending that only critical time dependent elective procedures are undertaken at this time due to the on-going and significant increased demand for bed capacity related to Covid-19. This decision was made...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ophthalmology Services (4 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.