Results 2,341-2,360 of 11,470 for speaker:Mary Butler

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I have made it crystal clear in the Department, working with the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, and to the new chief executive of the HSE, Mr. Bernard Gloster, that I am not prepared to see any more public beds close. It is as simple as that. The statistics for the past 12 months show it is not the case that we have closed public beds. Let me refer to the current situation on care...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I agree with what the Deputy says. Pending the recruitment of additional staff, Cork Kerry Community Healthcare plans to increase bed capacity at West Kerry Community Hospital. That is what I am trying to achieve. It is important to have community nursing units giving people options regarding where they would like to spend the latter days of their lives. The Sláintecare model is to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for the question. The three Waterford Deputies sitting in the House could probably have written the answer such was the cross-party collaboration since 2016 on the second cath lab. As the Deputy will be aware, the programme for Government committed to the delivery of a second cath lab at University Hospital Waterford. Funding was allocated in the 2019 capital plan for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I will give the Deputy some more information. The HSE has confirmed there are 24 whole-time equivalents approved to support operation of the second cath lab, with 21 whole-time equivalents currently in post. The HSE has confirmed that interviews for two healthcare assistants are scheduled for 21 September, which is today, and the recruitment campaign for a senior cardiac psychologist - one...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I agree with what both Deputies have said. I take a lot of positivity from the current situation. In order for the new cath lab to open we needed 24 whole-time equivalents and 21 are currently in place. At a time when recruitment is quite challenging across health services that is very positive. Two more healthcare assistants are being interviewed today and the recruitment campaign for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I thank Deputy Griffin for the question and for his constant advocacy for West Kerry Community Hospital. It is not the first time the Deputy has raised it here on the floor of the Dáil. West Kerry Community Hospital provides important and valued services for people in the west Kerry area. The hospital has 46 beds registered, of which 35 are long-stay beds and 11 are short-stay...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mental Health Services (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: The clinical programmes have been expanded across the country for the past three years. The Deputy stated that he met Lucena. I met it last week. It has two new ADHD teams that were approved this year and are in place. I was delighted to hear that. As regards psychosis, many of the clinical programmes are originally started on a pilot basis and then rolled out. I travelled to Sligo this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mental Health Services (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy for his question. As he will be aware, I have prioritised the clinical programmes since I came into this role. I am now heading into my fourth budget. The Government’s clear commitment to enhancing mental health services is shown by significant mental health funding increases in recent years and 2023 saw a record budget for mental health of €1.2 billion....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mental Health Services (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: The Deputy hit the nail on the head about multi-annual funding. I have secured 800 posts since I took over this role. We are currently recruiting for clinical programmes this year. Whether the money was secured in budget 2021, 2022 or 2023, that does not really matter when a child is in front of one of these clinicians. What really matters is that money was provided for ongoing services...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mental Health Commission (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: Recommendation No. 1 relates to the immediate and independent regulation of CAMHS by the Mental Health Commission. As I said, a key element of the Mental Health Bill will be expansion of the commission's regulatory remit to include community residences - about 1,200 people live in community residences all over the country - and services, including CAMHS services. That has been agreed and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mental Health Commission (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: A clear process is in place for the development of the mental health Bill. Recommendation No. 2, which follows on from No. 1, states that the implementation of these recommendations must be monitored by the Mental Health Commission. The commission intends to publish a yearly report on progress of implementation. While I welcome the focus on service improvement in CAMHS, it is the role of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Service Executive (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: Budget 2023 saw a record allocation of €24 billion to the health Vote. This increased funding reflects the Government's ongoing commitment to resourcing the HSE to deal with a range of pressures and includes a range of new investments to deliver on the Sláintecare reform agenda. As part of the planning for service delivery for 2023, extensive engagements took place between...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Service Executive (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: As I said, based on the figures that have been made available to me today, the current deficit was €642 million-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Service Executive (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I know that. I am answering the question. The current deficit was €642 million to the end of June. That is the publicly available figure at the moment. I can tell Deputy Shortall what actions are being taken to address the HSE deficit. An initial minimum target reduction of 10% on agency costs has been brought in, with effect from August, across both the acute and community...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Service Executive (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: The black hole of €2 billion referred to by the Deputy has not been verified. As I stated, the figure up to the end of June-----

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Service Executive (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The deficit has been verified at €642 million up to the end of June. As I stated, the HSE is taking significant actions to address this. For example, a State claims task force has been established to reduce the overall cost of claims.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Service Executive (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I do not think this is a back-and-forth discussion. Deputy Shortall got her opportunity to ask a question.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Service Executive (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: Extensive efforts are being made to recruit across all sectors. Deputy Shortall needs to be fair as well. The main overrun is across acute services and emergency departments. Spending on disability services, mental health and older people is not over budget at all. The over budget spending is in the acute sector where the demand is overwhelming for many hospitals.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mental Health Commission (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: The Mental Health Commission report is a welcome contribution to a common objective of improving CAMHS services. As the Deputy will be aware, and as I have said previously, when Dr. Susan Finnerty and the Mental Health Commission informed me last year that they were about to look at CAMHS, I asked them to expand their review. I also funded what was necessary in this case. I welcome the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Mental Health Commission (21 Sep 2023)

Mary Butler: I will address a couple of points. The Deputy stated the waiting list had doubled. It has, and there are now 3,900 children on the waiting list, although it reduced in July. What the Deputy did not say is that there were 33% more referrals to CAMHS during the Covid-19 period, that the teams saw 21% more children and that there were 225,000 appointments last year. It is important to put...