Results 16,521-16,540 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly
- Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Children in Care (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: We all share the Deputy's concerns that children might fall through the cracks and we must guard against that when we have so many people involved in their care and well being. In September 2012, access protocols for CAMHS services were approved by the HSE, with effect from 1 January 2013. The protocol reiterates the position of children accessing services in line with the Mental Health...
- Other Questions: Health Insurance Prices (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue which is of critical importance. I have consistently emphasised the need for much greater cost control in the private health insurance industry in order that premiums are affordable for as many people as possible. My Department and the Health Insurance Authority, HIA, monitor the factors that contribute to costs on an ongoing basis. The health...
- Other Questions: Health Insurance Prices (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: I do not think any specific reason has been identified to date but the matter continues to be examined. I am concerned that in the past there has been a history of passing on increases to the customer. There was an acceptance, or even a resignation, that medical inflation runs at 9% yet in some years we have seen health insurance costs for consumers increase by up to 25%. That is not...
- Other Questions: Health Insurance Prices (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: The Deputy has raised a valid question. The whole point of having a number of insurers is to create competition in the market-place. So far, however, this has not led to the sort of changes we would like to see. The main insurer in the country is the semi-State VHI which, although it is only responsible for 57% of the market, is responsible for 80% of the payout. The VHI now has a...
- Other Questions: Health Insurance Prices (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: The Deputy pointed his finger down, which is where he left the economy.
- Other Questions: Health Insurance Prices (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: The Fianna Fáil way is to ask a question and listen to its own answer. Good man, Barry.
- Other Questions: Health Insurance Prices (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: Do we want to have a conversation or just the Deputy asking questions and answering them himself?
- Other Questions: Health Insurance Prices (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: As I have said in the Chamber before, there is a figure of 250,000. It is also the case that 250,000 people lost their jobs, 250,000 extra medical cards were issued and 250,000 people gave up their health insurance. I did not say they were all one and the same people, but there must have been some relationship. I accept that the cost of private health insurance has increased. I have...
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: I thank the Deputy for his question and, in particular, for acknowledging the great work done by front-line staff in our ambulance service. Every day across the State, our paramedics attend to an average of 769 patients. The workforce includes approximately 1,700 people, including national ambulance service paramedics and the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulance service. The Government is...
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: It was the little fiscal fiasco the Deputies' Government left us to deal with. We had to get our financial sovereignty back. Those little issues are important to the ordinary man and woman in the street as they seek to get re-employed having been put out of work by the Deputies' Government.
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: This year, we are spending €146.9 million on the ambulance service, which is 6% more than two years ago. This year, the ambulance fleet stands at 534 vehicles, including national ambulance service emergency ambulances, rapid response and intermediate care vehicles, motorbikes and Dublin Fire Brigade ambulances. That is 77 more than four years ago when the Deputies opposite were in...
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: It is 77 more, Dara.
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: The Deputies are all welcome to Question Time. Last year, our ambulance service responded to 280,776 emergency calls, which was almost 14,000 more calls than in the previous year.
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: Despite the steepest health cutbacks in the history of the State, we are spending more money and attending to more patients and, crucially, more life threatening emergency calls in under 19 minutes than in previous years. While we are making progress, I acknowledge that we have more work to do. Nobody should wait on the side of the road with a loved one in their hour of need, fearful of...
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: The outcome for the patient is more important than the time required for the ambulance to arrive.
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: Deputy Calleary appears to hold the view that the operation can be a success, even if the patient dies. Additional information not given on the floor of the House An independent capacity analysis of the national ambulance service conducted by the UK Association of Ambulance Chief Executives will be completed this autumn. This will compare resources to demand and activity levels nationwide....
- Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: To respond to Deputy Cowen, who clearly does not want to listen, I believe people will listen. As I stated, nobody denies that the ambulance service needs to improve and that reviews are required to inform such improvement. I look forward to the Health Information and Quality Authority report. All Deputies will acknowledge that HIQA is an independent regulator and has always acted...
- Patient Safety Authority (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: I thank Deputy Twomey for raising this critical issue. Patient safety must be at the heart of everything we do in health. It is a priority issue for me and the Government. It was for this reason patient safety was the primary focus of the 2014 national service plan for the HSE. It is also the reason we decided to expedite the patient safety agency through the HSE on an administrative...
- Patient Safety Authority (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: I agree with the Deputy that the new agency must be underpinned by legislation. In the interests of getting it up and running quickly and teasing out any problems in that regard, I believe it is sensible to introduce it on an administrative basis first. When I spoke to the parents of the children who died in Portlaoise Hospital, they indicated their concern that such an agency should be...
- Patient Safety Authority: Hospital Staff (1 Apr 2014)
James Reilly: I thank the Deputies for raising this issue, which is clearly of considerable importance and concern to parents in Donegal. I also thank Deputies Mac Lochlainn, Doherty, Pringle and McConalogue for affording me the opportunity to reassure parents of children with diabetes and adults with diabetes that the restructuring of nursing resources for diabetes in Letterkenny will not result in a...