Results 24,241-24,260 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Lottery Funding Disbursement (3 Nov 2015)

Leo Varadkar: My Department administers a National Lottery Discretionary Fund from which once-off grants are paid to community and voluntary organisations providing a range of health related services. Details of the organisations that received lottery funding in each of the years referred to by the Deputy are available on my Department's website at www.health.gov.ie

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (3 Nov 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Health Identifiers Act 2014 sets out the legislative basis to support an identifiers framework for patients and providers for the health service in Ireland. The estimated ICT related costs to date i.e. 2015, for the initial stages of implementing the individual health identifier register is approximately €550,000. Costs to date have included some system design work, hardware and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Transport Services (3 Nov 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointment Delays (3 Nov 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual. The National...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Staff Career Breaks (3 Nov 2015)

Leo Varadkar: All career breaks since 2013 are granted under the provisions of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Circular 4/2013: Career Break Scheme in the Civil Service. The relevant employment law is Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956-2006. Prior to 2013 there was a special incentivised career break scheme that operated from 2009 under provisions of Circular 13/2009: Special Civil...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: In January, I put in place maximum permissible waiting times for inpatient and day case treatment and outpatient appointments of 18 months by the end of June and 15 months by the year's end. I refer to routine appointments, not urgent or emergency appointments. It was always made clear that, for some specialities, this would not be possible due to a lack of capacity in both the public and...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: No targets have been abandoned.

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Every month, the authorities report waiting times based on three-month intervals, making reference to those waiting for fewer than three months, those waiting for between three and six months, those waiting between six and nine months, and those waiting for between nine and 12 months or more. All the figures are very transparent for anybody who wants to see them. We have been very clear...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: What has happened at Naas is similar to what has happened in other hospitals, in that there was a waiting list initiative to ensure that no one was waiting for longer than 18 months for a routine appointment. That initiative was delivered successfully in almost all hospitals across the State by July. By August and September, though, people had breached the 18-month period again. That is...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The increase in the number of outpatients waiting for longer than 18 months at Tallaght is largely due to capacity pressures in certain specialties relating mainly to medical manpower pressures as a result of consultant retirements, maternity and sick leave and the inability to recruit locums into those positions. However, it should be noted that, overall, the 18-month target is being...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I do not have an update on the new phase of development of the endoscopy unit at Naas, but suffice it to say that the unit is included in the capital plan and we are keen to get it started and have works under way sooner rather than later.

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: This is a matter on which I will follow up. The Deputy has a particular interest in it and has raised it with me many times. Regarding the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, nine additional staff have been provided to accelerate the application process and a new call centre has been established, allowing staff to concentrate on processing the applications instead of having to take...

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I do not know the answer to that question for sure but I would assume that if the hospital cancels the appointment, the person retains the same position on the waiting list as they would have had previously. That is what I would expect to be the case, although I will have to double-check it. It would be unusual if anything else were being done. I do not have the exact staff figures for...

Other Questions: Hospital Services (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Much is being done to improve maternity services further across the country. Additional funding of €2 million, provided in 2015, is being used to fill front-line posts. In 2016, the HSE will again focus on maternity service improvements and implement managed clinical maternity networks across all hospital groups. The establishment of such networks will ensure that smaller maternity...

Other Questions: Hospital Services (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I welcome Deputy Griffin's comments. I had the opportunity to visit Kerry General Hospital with him and the Minister of State, Deputy Deenihan, some months ago, and I was very impressed by the performance of the hospital. It has its problems, like every other hospital, but it is going well in so many ways. It was very good to meet the staff there and see the important work they are doing....

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Improving timely access to care is a key priority for the Government which is why, in January, I put in place maximum permissible waiting times of 18 months by the end of June and 15 months by year-end for routine appointments. In June, the HSE reported a performance against the 18-month maximum waiting time for outpatients of 92%. In September, there was a slight increase in the number of...

Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: A significant and ongoing reform programme has been under way in recent years in the National Ambulance Service and considerable advances have been made in 2015. In particular, the opening of the new national emergency operations centre in Tallaght and the establishment of the single national control system, which is now fully operational, will help to achieve improvements in ambulance...

Other Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The budget of the National Ambulance Service will be increased for next year and was increased by approximately €5 million this year. Additional ambulances will be purchased, but how the funding and ambulances will be spread out by region throughout the country is up to the National Ambulance Service and I will be guided by its advice. Deputy Dooley's point is valid and well made....

Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: In January, I put in place maximum permissible waiting times of 18 months for inpatient and day case treatment and outpatient appointments by the end of June and of 15 months by the end of the year. In September, the number of outpatients waiting more than 18 months was 427 for Mayo General Hospital. As the Deputy points out, this represents, unfortunately, an increase over the August...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Accommodation Provision (22 Oct 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy well knows the sanction of staff recruitment at individual hospitals or services is not in the remit of the Minister for Health. Sanction of staff recruitment is a matter for the hospital manager, hospital group and the HSE.