Results 15,801-15,820 of 22,424 for speaker:Finian McGrath

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: I thank Deputy O'Brien for asking this very important question about the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Considerable progress has been made to overcome the remaining legislative barriers to Ireland's ratification of the convention. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, which was signed into law on 30 December 2015, is a comprehensive reform of the law...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: So do I.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: Yes. Many people have asked this question. I have set the end of this year - Christmas 2016 - as a clear target. Of course there are delays with legislation in the Department of Health. The issues are more bureaucratic than anything else. Over the past six months, I have consulted all groups working in the disability sector. I will continue to do this. I have just come from a meeting...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: We sign conventions as a declaration of our commitment to seek to apply the convention concerned in Ireland. We ratify them when we can guarantee to our international partners that we are meeting our commitments. We like to have many of the services in place before we move along. In budget 2017, we have allocated €1.562 billion for the national service plan for people with...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: We will do our best to ratify this UN convention as quickly as possible. We are not hanging around in the meantime.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: We are putting in the services. We are forming and developing the services.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Proposed Legislation (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: Thank you very much, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

Topical Issues: Medicinal Products (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: I thank the Deputy for rasing this important issue, about which he cares passionately. I share his concerns and his ideas. I very much appreciate the difficult situation that Ava and her family are in and how painful it is for any parent to see his or her child suffering with a condition such as this. Many patients with a variety of medical conditions believe that cannabis should be a...

Topical Issues: Medicinal Products (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: It is important to acknowledge that most of us want to do our best for patients in these cases and that we need to do something to assist them. That is my priority as well. Medicinal cannabis is available in countries such as the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Canada, Australia, Malta and Croatia and the medical profession is aware of this. The key response to the matter raised by the...

Topical Issues: Speech and Language Therapy Provision (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: That could be dangerous.

Topical Issues: Speech and Language Therapy Provision (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: I thank Deputy Fergus O'Dowd for raising this very important issue. In the Louth area, Deputy O'Dowd is very committed to supporting the rights of people with disabilities, particularly intellectual disabilities, and also pushing for speech and language therapy services. The Government recognises, as Deputy O'Dowd has said, that waiting times for speech and language therapy have posed...

Topical Issues: Speech and Language Therapy Provision (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: I accept Deputy O'Dowd's point about Louth and Meath. We have to ensure there is equality in the distribution of services. It is a point I will go back to the Minister and HSE with. We have to deal with the challenges that exist when recruiting for new positions. In some cases, the successful candidates are HSE staff from elsewhere in the country, so enhancing capacity in one area means a...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Funding (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: The Department of Justice and Equality has a policy coordination role in relation to disability, but does not have responsibility in relation to funding of disability services. Within that policy coordination role, my priorities for 2017 are as follows: 1. Ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Work is underway on drawing up an Equality/Disability...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Services for People with Disabilities (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: The Providing Equal Employment Routes (PEER) project was one of 14 disability activation projects (DACT), in the Border, Midlands & West region, which were jointly funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Department of Social Protection (DSP), from the end of 2012 to April 2015. The project was delivered by the Walkinstown Association for People with an Intellectual Disability...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Departmental Funding (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: The organisation referred to in the Deputy's question is the Irish Association of Supported Employment (IASE). The substantive issue raised by this organisation was addressed in the PQ reply of the 18th October last, to the effect that the Department of Social Protection does not have a programme that provides core funding to national community and voluntary bodies and so there are no...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: I confirm that my Department received an application for disability allowance from this man on 4 October 2016. On completion of the necessary investigations on all aspects of the claim a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. The processing time for individual disability allowance claims may vary in accordance with their relative complexity...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: This lady submitted an application for disability allowance on 7 March 2016. The application, based upon the evidence submitted, was refused on medical grounds and the person in question was notified in writing of this decision on 8 November 2016 and of her rights of review and appeal. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: I confirm that my Department received an application for disability allowance from this man on 5 September 2016. On completion of the necessary investigations on all aspects of the claim a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome. The processing time for individual disability allowance claims may vary in accordance with their relative...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Disability Allowance Applications (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: I can confirm that the Department is in receipt of an application for disability allowance (DA) from this man. On 19 August 2016 the application was referred by a deciding officer (DO) to a social welfare investigative officer (SWI) for a report on the person’s means and circumstances. The SWI has confirmed that a meeting is scheduled for 10 November 2016. Once the SWI has...

Written Answers — Department of Social Protection: Domiciliary Care Allowance (15 Nov 2016)

Finian McGrath: An application for domiciliary care allowance (DCA) was received in respect of this child on the 26th July 2016. The application was not allowed as it was considered that the child did not meet the eligibility criteria for the allowance. A letter issued on 9th November 2016 outlining the decision in this case. In the case of an application which is refused, the applicant may submit...