Results 24,681-24,700 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (23 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I said "many". The standards now are very high and it will not be possible to replace 200 years' worth of health infrastructure in the course of five or six years. However, we need a multi-annual programme that will allow us to make a good start on that. In the meantime, while we are doing that, admission should continue to those facilities that are a few decades old or much older.

Topical Issue Debate: Mental Health Services (23 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I concur with all the remarks made by Deputy Mitchell O'Connor and thank her in particular for her interest in this very important issue at the time of World Alzheimer's Day. I assure her of the Government's interest in the issue.

Topical Issue Debate: Mental Health Services (23 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Mitchell O’Connor for raising the issue of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. I am taking the debate this afternoon on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who is abroad on Government business. It is estimated that there are approximately 50,000 people with dementia in Ireland today. These numbers are expected to increase to more...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (23 Sep 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: Hospital Services (23 Sep 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: European Investment Bank Loans (23 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: No EIB investment funding was received by the HSE in 2012, 2013, 2014 or to date in 2015. The National Development Finance Agency sought EIB funding for the primary care centre PPP project. In April 2015, the EIB announced that it had approved, in principle, a loan of up to €70m for this project.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (23 Sep 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 scheduling...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Investigations (23 Sep 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: Vaccination Programme (23 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Immunisation is regarded as one of the safest and most cost-effective of health care interventions. International studies and scientific assessments suggest that the best way to prevent most disease due to human papillomavirus (HPV) is to vaccinate as many girls and women as possible. The HPV vaccine protects girls from developing cervical cancer when they are adults. It is available free...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: We held it steady. The Deputy is free to interrupt. When one does not like the facts, it is normal behaviour to try to interrupt someone because-----

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Obviously, the Deputy does not want the facts to be heard but the facts are there-----

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: -----and Fianna Fáil's proposals, with Deputy Kelleher as health spokesperson, provided only an additional €94 million for health. We will spend multiples of that by the time we get to the end of this year. They also managed to cut €1.5 billion from health between 2008 and 2011 while we held it steady and now that the economy is recovering we are increasing it. A strong...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: That is not PR spin or a grand plan; it is just a fact. The number of consultants has increased.

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I remind the Deputy that the four and a half year period in question involved an extraordinary recession and budget cuts.

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: It is quite significant that there are 290 more consultants now than there were when we took office. We have taken on more new consultants in the first half of-----

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I remind the Deputy that his party's policy proposes an extra 40 consultants a year.

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Yes, but if we had had 40 a year up until now, that would have been 200. We have actually had a rate of increase higher than that in the policy the Deputy's party is putting forward.

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: We have taken on more new consultants in the first half of this year than were taken on in the whole of 2014. Following an extensive and robust consultant recruitment campaign, up to 130 additional consultants are expected to be appointed in the current year. I remind the Deputy that his party has promised 40. I expect that the improved pay scales for new entrant consultants agreed with...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Pay restoration and reductions in tax and USC which I hope the Deputy's party will not oppose will also be of assistance. It has also been necessary to significantly increase the number of non-consultant hospital doctors in hospitals to support service delivery and progress compliance with the European working time directive. The number of non-consultant hospital doctors which has increased...

Hospital Waiting Lists: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2015)

Leo Varadkar: As Minister for Health, I do not have the luxury of firing off proposals and platitudes as if they were paper aeroplanes without caring where, how or even whether they land. I have to worry about patients. Above all, I have to worry about good patient outcomes. The changes I have outlined are making a difference for many patients. In addition, all of these initiatives have been costed and...