Results 18,901-18,920 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: This purpose of the legislation is to transfer the sum that is given by way of a tax credit to the benefit of older people from younger people within the group of insured persons. How the insurance companies deal with this requirement is entirely a matter for themselves. In other words, it is a decision for individual companies as to whether health insurance premia will increase on foot of...
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: I move amendment No. 53: In page 33, lines 27 and 28, to delete all words from and including "and" in line 27 down to and including "long-term" in line 28 and substitute the following: "(c) 'employee' and 'employer' have the same meanings, respectively, as in section 983, and (d) 'qualifying insurer' and 'qualifying long-term".
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: I move amendment No. 54: In page 33, to delete lines 31 to 42 and substitute the following: "(b) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (2): "(2A) Where, for any relevant year of assessment, an employer makes a payment of emoluments to an employee consisting of a perquisite in the form of a payment to an authorised insurer under a relevant contract, and such payment qualifies...
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: We are about to have a philosophical debate. When the Progressive Democrats Party was formed many years ago, we advocated universal health insurance. However, we changed our minds after being presented with the prospective consequences by a group established to examine the issue. What Deputy O'Sullivan is proposing is compulsory universal insurance whereby some would pay the full...
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: That is an accounting issue. The provision is in respect of 2011. The legislation will not be applicable in 2012.
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: That is correct. The model the Deputy describes is risk equalisation which proved to be a bone of contention. All companies or practices would find contentious a requirement to transfer money to a competitor. Under the model proposed in the Bill, moneys will be transferred by the State through the tax system. From that point of view, the proposed system is preferable to direct transfers....
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: Yes, it has increased to â¬16 billion, which amounts to 40% of all the tax we will raise this year. To explain some of the reasons health is so expensive in Ireland, TheEconomist article to which I referred notes that doctors are paid 3.7 times the average wage in the United States, 4.2 times the average wage in Britain but seven times the average wage in Ireland. We are all paid much more...
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: Yes, but I am not paid seven times more.
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: I referred to the possibility of introducing universal health insurance.
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: I was responding to Deputy O'Sullivan, who thought we might have universal health insurance.
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: In regard to comparisons with the Dutch health care model, a visit to a general practitioner in the Netherlands costs â¬24.80 whereas it would cost â¬50 or more in this city. We should compare like with like. Hospitals and insurers have closed or consolidated with the result that prices have risen very rapidly. This is not a perfect world. Yesterday I discussed health reform in the...
- Health Insurance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008: Report and Final Stages (Resumed) (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: Since I triggered risk equalisation in 2005, there has been nothing but litigation. That is a fact. I do not know how many times we have been in the courts but we have not been able to transfer payments. We are now addressing the matter by way of the tax system, which I believe is fair. This is a short term measure which has been approved by the EU as a justifiable state aid because it...
- Written Answers — Inter-Country Adoptions: Inter-Country Adoptions (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: As the Deputy is no doubt aware, this matter has been on-going for many months now and dialogue with the Vietnamese Authorities is continuing. At this juncture, all options, including an interim intercountry adoption agreement, are actively being pursued by the Government to allow for the conclusion of discussions on a strengthened bilateral agreement and to facilitate continuity of the...
- Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 32, 39 and 40 together. The Government is committed to ensuring quality health services, delivered efficiently and effectively. Ensuring patient safety is paramount, so that people can have confidence in the services and that the best possible patient outcomes are achieved. There is significant international and national evidence that acute complex...
- Written Answers — Accident and Emergency Services: Accident and Emergency Services (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: Last year, hospital Emergency Departments treated 1.15 million people, of whom 368,000 were admitted to hospital. The average number of patients on trolleys awaiting admission at 2pm each day is half what it was in 2005. We need to continue to reduce waiting times for all patients presenting as emergencies to our hospitals. With this in mind, the HSE has set a lower waiting time target of...
- Written Answers — Capital Projects: Capital Projects (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: As part of the adjustments to the Public Capital Programme announced in the Supplementary Budget last April, the capital envelope available for the health sector building and equipping programme for the remainder of the National Development Programme has been reduced. The Executive is currently reviewing its capital programme proposals to take account of the capital allocation available to...
- Written Answers — Infectious Diseases: Infectious Diseases (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: The current estimated cost of pandemic preparedness for 2009 is â¬66.3m. The bulk of this - â¬60m â represents the cost of procuring an estimated 5.8 million doses of vaccine in 2009 of the total 7.7 million doses to be procured by the HSE. The remainder covers a variety of other items, including some extra antiviral drugs to add to the substantial existing stockpile of antivirals which...
- Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: Details of the number of medical cards and GP visit cards are provided to my Department each month by the Health Service Executive (HSE). The figures are provided on a net basis, showing the balance after new cards have been issued and other cards, as appropriate, have been deleted from the Executive's database, e.g. following a review of a person's circumstances. The most recent figures...
- Written Answers — Cancer Treatment Services: Cancer Treatment Services (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: The National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) was established by the Health Service Executive (HSE) in 2007 to implement the recommendations contained in the National Cancer Control Strategy. Considerable progress has since been made in the reorganisation of cancer services and particularly in relation to the transfer of breast cancer diagnosis and surgery into the eight hospitals designated...
- Written Answers — Civil Registrations: Civil Registrations (1 Jul 2009)
Mary Harney: The General Register Office of the Department of Social and Family Affairs has overall responsibility for the Civil Registration Service. Day to day services including the registration and production of certificates for births, deaths and marriages are provided nationally through local Health Service Executive offices. At present members of the public can purchase certificates either in...