Results 16,761-16,780 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney
- Private Health Insurance. (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: The market here was liberalised in the mid 1990s and perhaps other decisions could have been made then, but they were not. At the time, some 37% of the population had health insurance and everybody thought we were at market saturation level. However, some 53% of people now have health insurance. The VHI is required to be authorised during 2009 and must meet the same requirements as its...
- Private Health Insurance. (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 72, 77 and 80 together. In designing the package of measures announced on 19 November the Government considered several options and consulted widely. I consulted with the Health Insurance Authority, which has a statutory duty to provide me with advice on the private health insurance industry. In addition, either I or my officials met with each of the three...
- Private Health Insurance. (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: The intention in this proposal is not to raise revenue but, by way of a levy, to supplement the higher cost of insuring older people through an enhanced tax relief. The matter of ring-fencing any moneys would be a matter for the Minister for Finance. As anybody who has been in Government will know, this policy has never been pursued by any Minister for Finance. A proportion from the money...
- Private Health Insurance. (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: A number of groups that looked at the private health insurance market in Ireland, including all the companies in the market, suggested to me that there should be an incentive for people to begin their insurance when they are young in order to keep insurance affordable for older people. Relatively few people under the age of 35 use insurance. At a committee meeting recently I mentioned that...
- Private Health Insurance. (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: I hope it will be. Clearly, if there is a decline in our economic circumstances this may will impact on the situation. With regard to the reasons why the insurance was increased, Quinn Healthcare said that half the increase was due to the levy. I will be honest about that. The company said as much in its public statement. We have in the budget again hugely increased the cost of private...
- Private Health Insurance. (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: With regard to private health insurance, the VHI was established 51 years ago, when I was not around, because it was felt there were people who would make a contribution towards the cost of their own health care. It is a policy I support. Regardless of whether we had a universal system of health insurance, and no such system has been introduced since the Second World War in any European...
- Private Health Insurance. (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: As the Deputy is aware, I am not the Minister for Finance and I do not have any authority over the Revenue Commissioners.
- Private Health Insurance. (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: I have responsibility for health and, clearly, in the context of health budgets, we can give directions to the HSE. I do not have such authority with regard to the Revenue Commissioners, except to note that the intention is that the subsidy will go to enhance the tax benefit for older people. This is not introduced as a revenue raising measure but simply to make and keep health insurance...
- Written Answers — Cancer Screening Programme: Cancer Screening Programme (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: As I have already indicated, I accept fully the expert advice provided to me in support of the introduction of a cervical cancer vaccination programme. However, I also have a responsibility as Minister to consider this and many other competing priorities within the overall resources available to the health services. My immediate responsibility in relation to cervical cancer is to women who...
- Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: I have identified the development of neurology services as a policy priority for some time. I allocated additional revenue funding of â¬7m to the HSE in 2006 and 2007 for the development of services in the area of neurosciences, which comprises neurology, neurophysiology and neurosurgery. This investment has helped to increase substantially the number of approved consultant neurology...
- Written Answers — Nutritional Supplements: Nutritional Supplements (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: Clinical nutritional products cost the HSE â¬46 million a year, over â¬27 million of which is spent on oral nutritional products. Clinical nutritional products include oral nutritional supplements as well as tube feeds, products for metabolic conditions and gluten free foods. The types of oral nutritional supplements most commonly prescribed in the community are ready-made drinks called...
- Written Answers — Cancer Screening Programme: Cancer Screening Programme (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: The 2009 budget for the National Cancer Screening Service is being considered at present and the question of funding for colorectal screening will be examined in that context. The Service established an Expert Group on Colorectal Screening to prepare advice on the introduction of a national colorectal cancer programme, specifically on the population to be screened, at what intervals screening...
- Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: The Deputy will be aware that new contractual arrangements for medical consultants were agreed with their representative organisations earlier this year following more than four years of protracted negotiations. I am satisfied with the provisions in the contract dealing with consultants working in co-located hospitals and I have no plans to renegotiate any aspect of the contract. However,...
- Written Answers — Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme: Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme (16 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. Up to 5 December 2008, the Appeals Office had received just over 5,000 appeals. Decisions have issued in 2,614 cases and a further 740 appeals have been withdrawn. The...
- Written Answers — Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme: Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme (16 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. Up to 5 December 2008, the Appeals Office had received just over 5,000 appeals. Decisions have issued in 2,614 cases and a further 740 appeals have been withdrawn. The...
- Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: In July of this year the Government decided that a targeted voluntary redundancy/early retirement scheme would be introduced for the HSE. This was reaffirmed by the Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement of 14 October. More recently, on Wednesday 26 November, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance announced a series of measures aimed at transforming the public service. These...
- Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: In conjunction with the development of a new legislative framework to provide for clear statutory provisions on eligibility for health and personal social services, my Department is currently reviewing the assessment criteria for medical cards in the context of financial, medical and social need in line with the commitment in Towards 2016. A Steering Group has been established to undertake...
- Written Answers — Hospital Accommodation: Hospital Accommodation (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: The Health Service Executive is constantly working to ensure that sufficient bed capacity is available in the acute hospital system. Findings from a recent second National Bed Utilisation Review indicate some improvements with regard to bed utilisation in hospitals during 2008. However, there is still significant scope to improve the way in which beds in the acute hospital system are...
- Written Answers — General Medical Services Scheme: General Medical Services Scheme (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 108 together. Three representatives from the Irish Medical Organisation were appointed to the group established under the chairmanship of Dr. Michael Barry to develop recommendations for good practice which aim to secure safe and effective prescribing for patients while maximising the potential for economy in the use of public funds. Hospital...
- Written Answers — Health Service Expenditure: Health Service Expenditure (16 Dec 2008)
Mary Harney: I welcome the Third Interim Report on the 2006 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General â Expenditure on Health Services â recently published by the Committee of Public Accounts. A number of the Report's recommendations relating to matters such as the hospital consultants' contract, the HSE's utilisation of assets and its financial management systems are already the subject of...