Results 26,241-26,260 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Staff (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Following the retirement of Mr Kevin Moran, Consultant Urologist, from Letterkenny General Hospital, the Saolta University Health Care Group has put in place a locum consultant surgeon pending approval to fill this post on a permanent basis. In addition, the appointment of a further permanent general surgeon at Letterkenny General Hospital is planned.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Prices (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: In 2012 the State entered into a new three year price reduction Agreement with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association. This Agreement remains in place until 31st October this year. As the end of the current Agreement approaches consideration is being given to a range of options available to the State in seeking to deliver further savings on the cost of drugs. Such options...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Officials from my Department met with the Cystic Fibrosis Hopesource Foundation, hospital management, clinicians and nursing staff to discuss proposals for an in-patient unit for Cystic Fibrosis patients at Beaumont Hospital within the last week. The meeting was a positive engagement, with preliminary discussions on future service needs. It was acknowledged that the population of adults...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Insurance Prices (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Taking out health insurance is optional. Anyone ordinarily resident in the country is entitled, subject to certain charges, to receive public in-patient and out-patient hospital services. People who do not take out health insurance continue to have the same entitlement to services in the public hospital system Community rating, reflecting the principle of intergenerational solidarity, is...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HIQA Remit (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I intend bringing proposals to Government shortly seeking approval to draft amendments to the Health Act 2007 to extend the remit of the Health Information and Quality Authority. These amendments will extend HIQA's remit for standard setting and monitoring to the private healthcare sector. This will mean that HIQA’s powers to set and monitor standards and, where necessary, to undertake...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drug Treatment Programmes Policy (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Government's response to the problem of drug misuse in our society is set out in the National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016. The Oversight Forum on Drugs, which I chair, is responsible for the high-level monitoring of the Strategy, and solid progress is being made in delivering on its objectives. The Strategy aims to create a safer society through the reduction of the supply and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (16 Apr 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 Recruitment (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I understand from the HSE that there are two areas under active review in relation to these recruitment and retention issues. Firstly, there is the issue of recruitment of nurses educated and trained in Ireland. The Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director have been supportive in allowing the nursing home sector meet with graduate students in the universities. The Chief...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Accident and Emergency Department Waiting Times (16 Apr 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 Waiting Lists (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Improving waiting lists for scheduled care is a key priority for me and for the Government. Taking into account current pressures on acute hospital services, I have put in place a target that by mid-year nobody will wait more than 18 months for in-patient, day case treatment or an out-patient appointment, with a further reduction to a wait time of no more than 15 months by year end. The HSE...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Insurance Community Rating (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Community rating, reflecting the principle of intergenerational solidarity, is a fundamental cornerstone of the Irish health insurance market. Under community rating, the level of risk that a particular consumer poses to an insurer does not directly affect the premium paid. Premiums for younger or healthier lives are typically higher than their expected claims would require, whereas for...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Investigations (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I wish to thank the Deputy for the matter raised. The HSE is legally obliged to actively promote the well-being and to protect the welfare of the public. Decisions in this regard are made on a bona fide basis, based on information available to the HSE at a particular point in time. In relation to the matters raised by the Deputy, the proceedings are ongoing and as such it is not...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Expenditure (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: In the January 2015 Health Service Performance Report - the latest published - the HSE is reporting a net spend on an income and expenditure basis of €1.037 billion against a budget of €1.013 billion, leading to a deficit of almost €25 million. There is a deficit of €14 million within Acute Hospitals and Social Care, with some offsetting savings in other...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospitals Funding (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Acute hospital funding is determined and set out in the HSE Annual Service Plan within the context of total funding provided to the HSE. The approved allocation for Portlaoise Hospital for 2015 is €49.75 million. Individual hospital funding is not framed or specifically determined by categorisation or designation but rather is based on the range and complexity of services provided by...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cancer Services (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Cancer treatment for children in Ireland is led and directed by Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin, Dublin, which is the national tertiary paediatric and adolescent referral centre for all cancer services and which operates a shared care model with hospitals around the country. Every child who develops cancer has their diagnosis established and treatment planned at the Our Lady's...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Waiting Lists (16 Apr 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: Drug Treatment Programmes Policy (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: A core objective of the National Drugs Strategy is the development of a national integrated treatment and rehabilitation service that provides drug free and harm reduction approaches for problem substance users. Harm reduction interventions, such as needle exchange services and methadone maintenance treatment, are an important component of the response to problem substance use as such...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The January 2015 HSE Performance Report sets out that 808,365 day cases were treated in 2014. The HSE National Service Plan 2015 targets a day case activity level of 824,317 in 2015. This is an increase of 15,952 day cases and I expect the HSE to deliver on its Service Plan targets in 2015.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drugs-related Deaths (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The latest annual figures from the National Drug-Related Deaths Index indicate that there were 633 drug related deaths in 2012. 350 of these deaths were due to the toxic effects of drugs which represents a decrease from 387 in 2011. Methadone was implicated in 86 poisonings in 2012 compared to 118 in 2011. The majority of the deaths (87%) where methadone was implicated were polydrug...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Assisted Human Reproduction (16 Apr 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Currently in Ireland, the provision of assisted human reproduction services remains largely unregulated. Nonetheless, surrogacy is being practiced here and Irish citizens are also availing of international surrogacy arrangements abroad. Assigning parentage to these children requires court involvement in the vast majority of cases. On 17thFebruary this year I received Government approval to...