Results 15,981-16,000 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointment Status (21 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual. In relation to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Budgets (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Since my appointment as Minister for Health, I have sought to put in place a realistic budget for health and social care. Improved budgetary parameters reflecting the growing strength of the economy have enabled me to secure additional funds for health and social care in 2015 and 2016. The gross current Estimate for the health sector for 2016 is €13.175 billion, an increase of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Budgets (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure that in health there will ever be enough money to do everything one would like to do, but we have a very substantial budget and there should be enough to maintain the existing level of service and improve it in some instances. To clarify, the €600 million Supplementary Estimate this year does not fill a hole. The Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and I sought...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Budgets (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: There is the additional €280 million and the €125 million in savings. In the budget proposal from the party opposite, it proposed an additional €380 million for health but did not make any provision for the Lansdowne Road agreement. Assuming the party opposite does not intend to renege on that, it is providing €280 million, which is pretty much the same as we...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Budgets (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Almost entirely, the one-off income requirements are provided for. If the Deputy wishes to add €270 million to the €600 million and to the €280 million he can. We actually managed to have the one-off payments resolved this year. If one adds up the figures, they amount to more than €1 million. Elective surgery is cancelled more frequently than we would wish, but...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Departmental Budgets (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Why would the Deputy's party provide an inadequate amount for health? The Deputy is accusing the Government of doing pretty much exactly what his party put in its own pre-budget submission.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Accommodation Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Along with other acute hospitals, University Hospital Waterford has prepared a capacity plan to help address the expected increased demand for services this winter. Measures include opening additional beds as required, managing patient flow, appropriate discharges, internal surge capacity both in terms of beds and staff and prioritising diagnostics for inpatients to facilitate earlier...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Accommodation Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Like all emergency departments or certainly all major emergency departments, the emergency department at University Hospital Waterford experiences overcrowding and this has increased this year. Nobody is denying that. It is worth pointing out that of all the major city hospitals, Waterford performs the best in terms of overcrowding. There are eight people on trolleys in the hospital this...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Accommodation Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy well knows the sanction of staff recruitment at individual hospitals or services is not in the remit of the Minister for Health. Sanction of staff recruitment is a matter for the hospital manager, hospital group and the HSE.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Accommodation Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy is well aware that I do not have the authority to hire, fire, promote or demote staff. I know there is an election coming but standing up in the Dáil Chamber and asking me to-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Accommodation Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy seems to do so quite regularly none the less.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Accommodation Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: There clearly is an election coming given the Deputy is standing up-----

Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: A significant and ongoing reform programme has been under way in recent years in the National Ambulance Service and considerable advances have been made in 2015. In particular, the opening of the new national emergency operations centre in Tallaght and the establishment of the single national control system, which is now fully operational, will help to achieve improvements in ambulance...

Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The budget of the National Ambulance Service will be increased for next year and was increased by approximately €5 million this year. Additional ambulances will be purchased, but how the funding and ambulances will be spread out by region throughout the country is up to the National Ambulance Service and I will be guided by its advice. Deputy Dooley's point is valid and well made....

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: In January, I put in place maximum permissible waiting times of 18 months for inpatient and day case treatment and outpatient appointments by the end of June and of 15 months by the end of the year. In September, the number of outpatients waiting more than 18 months was 427 for Mayo General Hospital. As the Deputy points out, this represents, unfortunately, an increase over the August...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know the answer to that question for sure but I would assume that if the hospital cancels the appointment, the person retains the same position on the waiting list as they would have had previously. That is what I would expect to be the case, although I will have to double-check it. It would be unusual if anything else were being done. I do not have the exact staff figures for...

Other Questions: Hospital Services (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Much is being done to improve maternity services further across the country. Additional funding of €2 million, provided in 2015, is being used to fill front-line posts. In 2016, the HSE will again focus on maternity service improvements and implement managed clinical maternity networks across all hospital groups. The establishment of such networks will ensure that smaller maternity...

Other Questions: Hospital Services (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome Deputy Griffin's comments. I had the opportunity to visit Kerry General Hospital with him and the Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, some months ago, and I was very impressed by the performance of the hospital. It has its problems, like every other hospital, but it is going well in so many ways. It was very good to meet the staff there and see the important work they are doing....

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Improving timely access to care is a key priority for the Government which is why, in January, I put in place maximum permissible waiting times of 18 months by the end of June and 15 months by year-end for routine appointments. In June, the HSE reported a performance against the 18-month maximum waiting time for outpatients of 92%. In September, there was a slight increase in the number of...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: What has happened at Naas is similar to what has happened in other hospitals, in that there was a waiting list initiative to ensure that no one was waiting for longer than 18 months for a routine appointment. That initiative was delivered successfully in almost all hospitals across the State by July. By August and September, though, people had breached the 18-month period again. That is...