Results 23,661-23,680 of 46,575 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: I do not have the figure for how many people have been offered surgery abroad but I will get it for the Deputy quickly. I want to re-emphasise that the CHG advises that clinical criteria for determining a care plan for scoliosis-related surgeries and other spinal procedures is complex, which we appreciate, and is based on established clinical guidelines and best practice, both nationally and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Nursing Staff Recruitment (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: As Minister for Health, the recruitment and retention of nurses and midwives has been and is a consistent priority for me. Challenges exist in recruitment and retention of these professions, which is not news to the Deputy, as she knows and shares my view. We operate against a backdrop of a global shortage of nurses and midwives. Despite these challenges, however, the data show that we...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Nursing Staff Recruitment (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: What the Government will do is respect the PSSA to which we asked public service unions to sign up, which they did, and to which the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, signed up. I understand the INMO is a member of ICTU and I understand all parties to the PSSA have signed up and have agreed there would be no cost-increasing claims for improvement in pay for the duration of the agreement....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Nursing Staff Recruitment (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: I do not wish to engage in a back and forth about industrial relations matters on the floor of the Dáil because I want there to be serious engagement between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, where appropriate, and the INMO in advance of its executive meeting on 5 November to see if there is a way forward. I must respect an agreement that the vast...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Consultant Recruitment (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: I will answer this question on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly. Budget 2019 allocated an additional €55 million for the development of mental health services, and I acknowledge Deputy Browne's commitment to this area also. The additional funding allocated to mental health services since 2012 has provided for the recruitment of more than 1,500 posts in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: HSE Expenditure (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Donnelly for the question. A number of areas within the HSE are contributing to the overspend in 2018. These include higher payouts under the State Claims Agency, a shortfall in private patient income, a higher level of spend in the acute and disability services sectors and, for example, the additional costs associated with Storm Emma, which amounted to about €40...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: HSE Expenditure (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: The HSE did not just tell me, it told us all in the HSE service plan, as it does most years, the challenges and risks that exist in an organisation like the HSE. This is not the first year the HSE has needed a supplementary budget. If one looks back to 2006, we had a long-stay charges repayment scheme of €1 billion. We had shortfalls of €240 million and overrun of demand led...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: HSE Expenditure (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: That is not what the HSE said. The HSE did not say it could not deliver the service plan. The HSE produced a service plan. It was launched by the then director general and me. It was discussed at the Oireachtas health committee. I am pretty sure it was debated on the floor of the House. It produced it in the knowledge of the resources it had available to it. It did spell out, in...

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Referral to Select Committee (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: I move:That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Health pursuant to Standing Orders 84A(3)(a) and 149(1).

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Maternity Hospital (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: Following extensive mediation discussions, agreement was reached between the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group and the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) on the relocation of the NMH to the Elm Park campus. The terms of this agreement provides for the establishment of a new company which will have clinical and operational, as well as financial and budgetary independence in the provision of...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Community Care (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: The expansion of community-based care is at the heart of the Sláintecare vision. A key building block in this vision will be the 96 community healthcare networks and 433 Primary Care Teams that are already working across the country and delivering a wide range of health services to people in their local communities. In recent years, the HSE has made concerted efforts to move many...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Reimbursement (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: The HSE assessed the application for the pricing and reimbursement of Respreeza and in August 2017, the manufacturer, CSL Behring, was notified that the HSE did not recommend reimbursement. A number of patients were on an access scheme for this product, operated by the manufacturer, for the treatment of Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency. That scheme was being run independently by the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists Action Plans (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: In Budget 2019 the Government has prioritised improving access and reducing waiting times for patients, with funding to the National Treatment Purchase fund (NTPF) increasing from €55 million in 2018 to €75 million in 2019, of which, €6 million will be committed to outpatient activity. In addition, specific investments to improve paediatric services have been made...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Beds Data (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: It is proposed to provide a 50 bed ward block to replace existing ward accommodation at Portiuncula University Hospital, Ballinasloe. Funding has already been made available to bring the project to the design and planning stage. The ward block has now received planning permission. Following publication of the Budget and estimates last week, the HSE is preparing a Capital Plan for 2019,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Staff Recruitment (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy is aware, Dr Herity concluded that the needs of the effective catchment population of University Hospital Waterford could be accommodated from a single cath lab and recommended that the operating hours of the existing cath lab should be extended to provide 12 sessions of 4 hours each per week. Approval and funding has been provided for the additional staff required to facilitate...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Emergency Departments Waiting Times (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: I wish to acknowledge the distress overcrowded Emergency Departments (EDs) cause to patients, their families and frontline staff working in very challenging working conditions in hospitals throughout the country. Reflecting the demographic pressures associated with the growth in our aging population, this year has been characterised by high demand for unscheduled care, particularly among...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Reform (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: In August, I published the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy which provides the framework within which a system-wide reform programme will be advanced. The Strategy contains specific commitments in relation to improving governance and accountability across the health service. One of the key actions outlined in the Strategy is to establish an independent Board for the HSE and to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Reports (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: A key recommendation in the Sláintecare Report is to 'Implement transitional and legacy funding arrangements to a total of €3 billion over six years, to boost reinvestment into one-off system changing measures, training capacity and capital expenditure'. The report proposed that this funding be used to provide ehealth infrastructure, develop primary care infrastructure including...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospitals Funding (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: An upgraded Central Sterile Services Department at Roscommon University Hospital has been included in the National Development Plan (NDP), announced earlier this year. The HSE has advised that HSE Estates and the Saolta University Health Care Group have agreed on a proposal and the project brief will be submitted shortly for review by the HSE's National Capital and Property Steering Group in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Staff Recruitment (23 Oct 2018)

Simon Harris: Our Lady’s Hospital Navan (OLHN) is part of the Ireland East Hospital Group. Every hospital in that Group, large and small, including OLHN, has a vital role to play within the Group. In 2013 OLHN was included in the list of designated Model 2 Hospital under the Smaller Hospitals Framework which set out the role of smaller hospitals in managing routine, urgent or planned care locally...