Results 25,161-25,180 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (9 Jul 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: Nursing Staff Provision (9 Jul 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: National Children's Hospital Status (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board is the statutory body responsible for planning, designing, building and equipping the new children's hospital. The new hospital will be co-located with St James's Hospital, and ultimately tri-located with the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, which will re-locate to the campus in due course. In addition to the main hospital, the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Surgical Symphysiotomy Payment Scheme (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Surgical Symphysiotomy Payment Scheme commenced on 10 November 2014. It was estimated that 350 women would apply to the Scheme, but in fact 577 applications have been accepted. Applications are being assessed by former High Court Judge Maureen Harding Clark and the Scheme has in the region of €34 million available. The Scheme has brought to an end years of uncertainty and costs...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Insurance Community Rating (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: My Department and the Health Insurance Authority oversee the maintenance of a competitive and sustainable health insurance market, under the provisions of the Health Insurance Acts 1994 to 2014, and monitor developments on an ongoing basis to ensure that the market is regulated appropriately. Community rating is a fundamental cornerstone of the Irish health insurance system. Under community...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Accommodation Provision (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: It is acknowledged that parental accommodation at Our Lady’s Hospital Crumlin is not adequate. That is why the new children’s hospital accommodation will be designed to ensure that children and young people receive their care in the best organised and most clinically suitable setting. The planned accommodation will include facilities for inpatients, day care patients,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (9 Jul 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: Public Procurement Contracts Data (9 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The HSE has achieved significant savings over the last number of years through the on-going reform of its procurement process. Since January 2014 the HSE has achieved cost reductions of circa €50m - €31m in 2014 and circa €19m to end May 2015. Since 2010 and with the development of a central procurement function the total savings achieved to date is €250m. In...

Topical Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (8 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Smith for raising this issue. I am taking this debate on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Charles Flanagan. Recent RTE and BBC documentaries presented a shocking account of allegations of collusion that span three decades. In the first instance, our thoughts are with the families and relatives of those who were murdered in these events, and for...

Topical Issues: Northern Ireland Issues (8 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I assure the Deputy that we will continue to raise these long-standing cases, including the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, with the British Government. The Stormont House agreement provides for new ways to investigate the past and facilitate information recovery and for victims and survivors to share their experiences. The Government continues to prioritise the implementation of the...

Topical Issues: Suicide Prevention (8 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Neville for raising this issue. I am taking this Topical Issue debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who is abroad on Government business. We are all too aware that a death by suicide does not just affect family and close friends, but a community as a whole. The sometimes unanswerable questions of why, if only and what if...

Topical Issues: Suicide Prevention (8 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I have not interrogated those figures, but I do not doubt that there is a considerable economic cost to suicide, not least through lost productivity. Unfortunately, there is no way of capturing that amount or levying people who did not commit suicide so as to generate revenue. While the cost is real, there is no way of capturing and spending it, which I am sure the Deputy understands....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Consultants Recruitment (8 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The consultant who carried out pancreas transplants at Beaumont Hospital took early retirement at the end of 2014. Given the limited number of surgeons who specialise in transplantation, the filling of such vacancies poses a challenge. While Beaumont Hospital is making every effort to recruit a suitable replacement, it is also collaborating with St. Vincent's University Hospital on a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Consultants Recruitment (8 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The post was advertised. I cannot say with absolute certainty when it was advertised, but it was certainly advertised many months ago. However, it was not possible to find a suitable applicant. As the Senator will know, the health service works in such a way that the HSE is not always the employer. Beaumont Hospital, for example, is a voluntary hospital. Therefore, the people who work...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service Provision (8 Jul 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: Medical Records (8 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 150 and 151 together. With regard to the detailed queries raised by the Deputy, as these are service matters, 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 Waiting Lists (8 Jul 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. In relation to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (8 Jul 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 Schemes (8 Jul 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. Applications are accepted from community groups and voluntary organisations with an involvement in the provision of health services to specific client groups; national groups providing information and support...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Properties (8 Jul 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Public Health (Tobacco) Acts prohibits smoking in indoor work places with a number of exemptions in the health sector including Psychiatric Hospitals. In relation to outdoor or campus areas the Health Service Executive has a smoke-free policy which includes a commitment that all HSE campuses will become tobacco free. Tobacco Free Ireland, the Governments policy on tobacco, contains a...