Results 23,061-23,080 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: If I took the lowest number, I would take the number at 8 p.m. in the evening, which is generally lower than 200, even on a bad day, so that is not the case at all. The number at 8 a.m. is always the worst because of the number of people who come in overnight. A huge amount has been done in this space, probably more than in any recent year, but it needs to be sustained. The demands are...

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The logic of getting rid of the NTPF was twofold. First, it was self-selecting in that people went to it themselves if they were waiting for a period and, second, it never managed to get rid of long waiting lists or waiting times. Instead, the resource was given to the special delivery unit, SDU, which then selected the patients who were waiting the longest and focused on them. For the...

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The time has come for Deputy Kelleher to stop being a commentator and to set out what Fianna Fáil will do differently.

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Is Fianna Fáil reiterating its prior commitment to abolish waiting lists and is Deputy Kelleher promising to get rid of trolleys from emergency departments?

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I take that as a "No".

Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The HPV vaccine, Gardasil, which was introduced in 2010, protects girls from developing cervical cancer when they are adults. It also protects against head and neck cancer, anal cancer and genital warts. It is available free of charge from the HSE for all girls in the first year of secondary school. I am aware of claims of an association between the HPV vaccination and a number of...

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Over the last number of months the HSE has implemented initiatives to reduce emergency department overcrowding and wait times. From mid-January to the end of January there was a very significant increase in daily trolley numbers. This was due to higher numbers of patients presenting with flu-like and respiratory illnesses and a 10% increase in the number of older people presenting. In...

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I do not want not quibble with the Deputy about figures but those figures he used also include people on beds, people in day wards and overflow wards, as opposed to regular wards. The number who are actually on trolleys is somewhat lower than that, but I appreciate it is not about the numbers.

Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: They may need different supports in different cases. We may actually do them a disservice by treating them as a single group. People are treated based on the diagnosis of the condition they have and not based on what they believe caused it. We may do people a disservice by treating them as a single group. We should be trying to treat them based on their symptoms and diagnosis rather than...

Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I am aware of claims of an association between HPV vaccination and a number of conditions experienced by a group of young women. The vaccine protects against cervical, penile and anal cancer and helps to prevent genital warts. It appears that some girls first suffered symptoms around the time they received the HPV vaccine, and understandably some parents have connected the vaccine to their...

Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: What I said is that their symptoms are real and they are unwell and nobody is suggesting for a second that anyone is making anything up, or that any of the young women is doing so. What I did not say was that they were as a result of a side-effect or that they were caused by this vaccine because there is no epidemiological evidence to support that view. That is a belief not something that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Equipment (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: That is the plan. I am advised that emergency and very urgent CT scans are completed on the same day or within a week, that there are 208 patients waiting for urgent scans, that the average wait time is three to four months and that there are 313 patients waiting for routine or semi-urgent scans and that the current average waiting time for them is from four to six months. Given this may...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Equipment (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Even though the alliance has a ten point charter, it is going to the people-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Equipment (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The fact the Deputy is so sensitive that he must-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Equipment (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Sorry, Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Deputy Halligan kept interrupting me and took my time. I would like my time back.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Equipment (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: Deputy Halligan will now contest a general election based on a ten point charter, with no commitments at all on waiting lists or for Waterford hospital.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Equipment (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: University Hospital Waterford opened a new CT scanner in April 2015. I understand the staff who operated the older scanner were redeployed to the new machine but no additional staff resources were available to allow for the continued operation of the old machine. Operation of the new scanner required additional nursing and health care assistant staff. Delays in staff recruitment at that...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Equipment (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: I can only go on what I am told by the hospital because I am not involved in the day-to-day running of the facility or the recruitment of staff there. I am advised by the hospital that there was a difficulty in recruiting staff and that this is the reason the new machine did not open until April 2015 and that it is now putting together a business case to open the second machine. With two...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy will know that I cannot comment on individual cases. I was not given prior notification that the Deputy would raise this individual case but, certainly, if he wants to give me the details, I will have the position checked by the National Ambulance Service. It is important to point out that there has been a significant increase in investment in the ambulance service in recent...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (2 Feb 2016)

Leo Varadkar: It is the case that a great deal more must be done. I accept that we need to improve our ambulance response times. As individuals who could potentially be the next Minister for Health, I say to Deputies Ó Caoláin and Kelleher that they should be careful about what they promise. It will never be possible to have an ambulance, a squad car and a fire engine at every crossroads in...