Results 27,121-27,140 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I am afraid I cannot comment on ophthalmology specifically in the south but I will ask the HSE to give the Deputy information on that. We are developing a new oral health policy that will fit into the Healthy Ireland framework and is being led by the chief dental officer. The initial research coming back is that Ireland's oral health is improving. Children have fewer cavities than they...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputies for their contributions and for highlighting particular areas that require more resources and investment. Anything that the committee can do to recommend more money for my Department would be much appreciated.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (previously known as An Bord Altranais) is governed by the Nurses and Midwives Act 2011 and is a legal entity in its own right. Its accountability lies in the main to the Minister for Health. Having regard to the relevant sections of the Act, there is a certain amount of accountability to the Houses of the Oireachtas but in the most part the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service Provision (5 Feb 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: Accident and Emergency Departments (5 Feb 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: Blood Donations (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The remit of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is to provide a safe, reliable and robust blood service to the Irish health system. Blood, and the products derived from it, are an integral facet of healthcare delivery. A major objective of the IBTS is to ensure that it always has the necessary programmes and procedures in place to protect both the donors of blood and the recipients...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Blood Donations (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The IBTS has a schools information pack with leaflets, videos and CD content which it distributes to secondary schools to promote blood donation. The IBTS is currently reviewing this material with several parties, including input from Transition Year students. It is envisaged that this material will form part of a proposal to the Department of Education and Skills to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The National Waiting List Management Policy, A standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, January 2014,has been developed to ensure that all administrative, managerial and clinical staff follow an agreed national minimum standard for the management and administration of waiting lists for scheduled care. This policy, which has...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cancer Screening Programmes (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Planning for the age extension of BreastCheck to 65 - 69 year olds is underway and screening of the extended cohort will commence in Quarter 4 of 2015. The additional eligible population is approximately 100,000 and, when fully implemented, 540,000 women will be included in the BreastCheck Programme. The age extension will be implemented on an incremental basis, in line with the capacity...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Prices (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: In 2012 my Department and the HSE entered into an Agreement with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association to deliver savings of over €400m. Over half of the savings to be delivered - €210m - were to be reinvested by the State into the provision of new and innovative drugs. The State's investment in new drugs over the three-year lifetime of the Agreement is likely to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Insurance (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: VHI's application for authorisation was submitted to the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) on 16 May 2014. VHI continues to engage closely with the CBI in respect of its application, and my Department has also provided a number of clarifications to the Bank to assist it in its understanding of the interaction between the private health insurance market and the health system. Any capital...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (5 Feb 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 Equipment (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Safety is of paramount importance to the BreastCheck programme, which has high quality control standards in place for the management of its 30 screening mammography machines. These are set out in the Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Mammography Screening and are consistent with those of the European Reference Organisation for Quality Assured Breast Screening and Diagnostic Services...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Staff Data (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on the matter. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointments Administration (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. Should a patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he or she would be in the best position to take the matter up with the consultant and hospital involved. In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Patient Transport (5 Feb 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 Services (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: With regard to specific complaints in relation to experiences of individuals in our hospitals, there is a formal complaints policy, entitled “Your Service Your Say”,details of which are on the HSE website, at:. In accordance with this procedure, a complaint must be made in the first instance to the hospital in which the incident causing the complaint occurred. If an...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Staff Data (5 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: There are no staff from my Department or agencies under the aegis of my Department working out of Government Buildings at Abbeyleix Road, Portlaoise, Co. Laois.

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Reports (4 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The HSE provided funding to Positive Action from 2005 to March 2014 under section 39 of the Health Act 2004. An internal audit of Positive Action was commenced in October 2013 as part of the HSE's audit plan for that year. The audit related to the period 1 January 2009 to 31 August 2013. It examined Positive Action's financial records, systems of internal controls, corporate governance...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cancer Screening Programmes (4 Feb 2015)

Leo Varadkar: BreastCheck provides cancer screening for women aged 50-64 years. BreastCheck utilises digital mammography as it is the most advanced method available, giving enhanced image quality and significant reductions in the radiation dose associated with screening examinations. The improved images lead to higher detection rates for cancer which is seen as a positive. This facilitates earlier...