Results 16,701-16,720 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: All guidelines with regard to this age group will have to be amended in accordance with the new legislation. Prior to Christmas it is my intention to meet, along with my officials, the HSE and those who operate the GMS to discuss the communications to older people and general practitioners and the guidelines will be raised also.

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: I agree with Deputy Shatter that a court challenge to the provision of a medical card to a widow or widower is unlikely. That is not the issue. The concern is that a single person might initiate legal action to the effect that he or she is being discriminated against on grounds of receiving different treatment to that afforded to widows and widowers.

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: That is the advice we have received. We have been further advised that a period of three years is reasonable and that a longer period or an indefinite period might be subject to serious legal challenge from people who never married. Consider the case, for example, of two neighbours, one a widowed person with an income of €1,300 per week and the other a single person with an income of...

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: I move amendment No. 5: In page 4, line 32, to delete "(b) dependants of the persons referred to in" and substitute the following: "(c) dependants of the persons referred to in".

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: I said earlier that we intend to do this on an administrative basis. However, since this provision is the same, I will accept the amendment, subject to the requirement for any drafting amendment. I will accept it if it is in order.

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: I cannot accept the amendment. This would be an entirely new role for the Health Information and Quality Authority. The remit of that authority is to set standards, monitor compliance with those standards and to enforce the standards. It is not to be an assessor of anything relating to the provision of services. That is not an appropriate role for the Health Information and Quality...

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: On the Deputy's final point, this is precisely what we are changing by introducing a new contract. It is not acceptable to me, as a citizen and human being, that some people are given preferential access to services which are fully funded by our taxpayers, including the cost of staff. In the past ten days, a friend of mine who telephoned a public hospital to make an arrangement for a parent...

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: Yes, but unless one deals with capacity issues——

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: I want the level of private activity in our public hospitals to be greatly reduced because the sole purpose of the public system is to serve the medical needs of citizens. As to the question of which body should assess applications and so on and the conflict between being the provider of funding and the provider of the benefit, I am not aware of any health system, either publicly funded or...

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: I accept that. We must prioritise the services we provide, irrespective of whether resources are made available from general taxation or a combination of social insurance and taxation or private insurance and taxation. It is our priority to ensure terminally ill people are provided with the highest possible quality of service. I am proud that in the mid 1990s, Ireland became the second...

Health Bill 2008: Committee Stage (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: We do not yet have a licensing regime. As the Deputy will be aware, the Commission on Patient Safety chaired by Dr. Madden recommended a licensing regime. We must introduce such a regime as quickly as possible. However, in advance of doing this we must know what it is we are licensing and what standards are appropriate for the acute and non-acute hospital system. As I have stated...

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: Medical cards are made available by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to persons and their dependants who would otherwise experience undue hardship in meeting the cost of General Practitioner (GP) services. In general, eligibility for medical cards and GP visit cards is determined following an examination of the means of the applicant and his/her dependants (income and relevant outgoings)....

Written Answers — Health and Safety Assessments: Health and Safety Assessments (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: My Department has no water fountains in any of its buildings. In December 2007, Health Buildings International (HBI) were contracted by the Office of Public Works to carry out a Risk Assessment Survey on water systems in Hawkins House. The survey was carried out with reference to all current legislation and best practice guidelines and in accordance with Health and Safety Commission...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: The concept of Better Regulation is one to which my Department is wholly committed. Officers from my Department at Principal, Assistant Principal and Administrative Officer level, as appropriate, have in 2008, as part of their relevant responsibilities, attended meetings of the Inter-Departmental Group on Administrative Burden Reduction and the Regulatory Impact Analysis Network. Further,...

Written Answers — Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme: Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: The Health Service Executive has responsibility for administering the Repayment Scheme and the information sought by the Deputy relates to matters within the area of responsibility of the Executive. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter investigated and to have a reply issued to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.

Written Answers — Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme: Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: The Health Repayment Scheme Appeals Office is an independent office established to provide an appeals service to those who wish to appeal the decision of the Scheme Administrator under the Health (Repayment Scheme) Act 2006. The Health Repayment Scheme Appeals Office received a completed appeal form from the claimant referred to by the Deputy on 19 September 2007 and the Appeals Officer...

Written Answers — Vaccination Programme: Vaccination Programme (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.

Written Answers — Departmental Offices: Departmental Offices (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: Office space in the Health Service Executive estate in County Donegal is a service issue and the query has been referred to the Executive for direct reply.

Written Answers — Departmental Offices: Departmental Offices (11 Dec 2008)

Mary Harney: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.