Results 26,481-26,500 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Written Answers — Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht: EU Funding (7 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 442. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which local community-based festivals have benefited from EU grant aid directly or indirectly with particular reference to the specific grant aid for festivals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12147/17]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hardship Grant Scheme Applications (7 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 539. To ask the Minister for Health if required support will issue under the hardship scheme for shoes in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11582/17]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (7 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 540. To ask the Minister for Health when a full medical card will issue in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11583/17]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (7 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 652. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which he remains satisfied that the various initiatives taken to address overcrowding at accident and emergency departments throughout the country are adequate and sufficient to address the issue now and in the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12040/17]

Residential Institutions Statutory Fund (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: In accordance with Standing Order 70(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Thursday, 7 March 2017.

Other Questions: National Museum (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Was any thought given to the Seanad relocating to the old parliament building at the Bank of Ireland? I do not wish to be overly grand about this but it would have been a nice correlation.

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 8. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which spending remains on target and within budget for 2017, with particular reference to any sectors which might have the potential to lead to an overspend by year's end; if any adjustments are likely to be made in high pressure areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10621/17]

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: This question refers to the extent to which monitoring takes place with regard to the budget for the current year and the degree to which any identification has been made of possible overspends under various headings and how they might best be handled.

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Minister for the comprehensive reply. Has any Department edged closer to the red line than others? Have some Departments been better at keeping in mind their obligations to stay within budget? Given the nature and importance of the Minister's job in the overall budgeting context, to what extent is it possible to ensure that any corrective measures that are required can be made?

Other Questions: Departmental Budgets (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: Of the various elements of the public sector that incurred quite a considerable level of expenditure restrictions and wage cuts during the more severe days of the economic recession, can fairness and equity be applied in return for the sacrifices made by each and all areas in the public sector during that period without placing any other at a disadvantage?

Other Questions: Budget Measures (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: 5. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the role he envisages for reform in 2017 and thereafter in the context of the need to ensure the smooth operation of the economy in competitive mode. [10622/17]

Other Questions: Budget Measures (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: This question relates to the extent to which the Minister foresees an ongoing role for reform in the budgetary process and the benefits to accrue.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I would have a similar problem, but I realise what the Minister is saying. Working inside the Department, they are looking at it from a different perspective altogether. Is it all right if I use the old Vote system? That system gives me an instant bird's eye view of where we were and where we will go. I believe we should know ourselves where we fell short, if we did. We can see straight...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: In making a comparison between the four regions, the following would be my query. To what extent have pressures showed weaknesses, based on the previous performance? I am going on the old document again. To what extent has it been possible to monitor potential hazards before serious difficulties arise with waiting lists or shortages in the delivery of services at any level, either in the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: The most sensitive areas in the current year were in regard to waiting times, accident and emergency difficulties, over-crowding and primary care. Does the Minister feel adequate provision has now been made to ensure that the most urgent cases in terms of overcrowding are unlikely to recur to the same extent?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I have been out to the headquarters on several occasions. I am not a great supporter of the centralised system at all, and I hope that in the not-to-distant future we can see decentralisation, in the four regions perhaps, and with that simplification. I have brought this up before. The HSE told us a week ago there is no automatic right for a cancer patient to have a medical card. I find...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: This is an area we need to look at to a greater extent in the future. There is an increasing cohort of people who suffer from social and economic deprivation and, as a result, find themselves under medical and mental pressure to a huge extent. Way back in the days of old, we tried to have a programme of identifying families who were at risk for various reasons. We tried to have a case...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: On the same subject, which is also a favourite pastime of mine, I am alarmed by that development. It is the wrong process and the wrong direction at the wrong time. If anything, we need an increase in that area in the public health sector. I can think of a number of our public long-stay hospitals where, compared to ten or 15 years ago, the number of patients has halved. The latter was...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: I can tell you most people find it impossible. However, we will not go there. If you want to move on to the next programme, I will make my comments at the beginning of the next part. It means overlapping for the sake of logistics.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Bernard Durkan: No, it is not. Can we roll the two into one, Chairman? I was trying to be economic with time.