Results 27,621-27,640 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service Response Times (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 179 and 180 together. 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: Departmental Programmes (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Work on establishing the Programme Management Office (PMO) commenced in February 2013. The Office was established to support the delivery of the health reforms in Future Health and its scope includes: - coordinating the reform programme and acting as a clearing house for projects; - managing a monitoring and reporting system that shows progress in relation to each project and highlights...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Patient Safety Agency Establishment (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The establishment of a Patient Safety Agency is under review in the context of the strategic reform of the health services and the measures that are being taken to strengthen patient safety, including advocacy and related services, within the Health Service Executive.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Indemnity Cover (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Action 7 of "Future Health - A Strategic Framework for Reform of the Health Service 2012 - 2015" and in turn Action 7.3.1 of the Health Service Reform Programme, states that 'the Department of Health will work with the HSE and the State Claims Agency to develop a risk based approach to the provision of indemnity to services and professionals'. In effect, this means that the Department will...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Cancer Screening Programmes (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I recently announced the extension of the BreastCheck screening programme to women aged 65 to 69 years of age. Planning for this is underway and screening of the extended cohort will commence in quarter 4 of 2015. The age extension will be expanded on an incremental basis in order to manage the additional screening and follow up involved. It will be fully rolled out by 2021. The...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Governance (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: In order to effectively reorganise the health service, it is necessary to have a clear, accurate understanding of how resources of all kinds are currently allocated. In the context of the current restructuring programme, particularly community health organisations and hospital groups, my department has asked the HSE to carry out a review in 2015 of how staff, current and capital expenditure,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Budgets (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Successful transformation of our health services requires a corresponding transformation of the existing funding model. The first stage in transforming this funding model is to clarify funding streams through the creation of directorates and corresponding programme based budgets. In Vote terms, programme based budgets have already been established for the Primary Care Reimbursement Service...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Expenditure (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: A Review of Financial Management Systems in the Irish Health Service, commonly known as the Ogden Report, was undertaken in 2012. The review was commissioned by the Secretary General of the Department of Health. Its overall intention was to review the state of the financial management system in place in the health sector in Ireland at the time in the context of the serious overruns projected...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (17 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 193 and 194 together. 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 Procedures (17 Dec 2014)

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 (17 Dec 2014)

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.

Topical Issue Debate: Alcohol Sales Legislation (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputy Mitchell O'Connor for raising this important matter and acknowledge her long-standing interest in this important social problem. Ireland has a serious problem in that we drink too much alcohol, even if consumption now is falling. Furthermore, when we drink, we tend to binge-drink. Ireland has the second-highest rate of binge-drinking in the world and this pattern of drinking...

Topical Issue Debate: Alcohol Sales Legislation (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: While one spends a lot of time in this Chamber disagreeing with people, I could not agree more with Deputy Mitchell O'Connor. There is absolutely no doubt but that alcohol is a contributory factor in domestic violence, as well as an excuse for it on some occasions, which is unacceptable. In my previous position as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, much work was put into road safety...

Topical Issue Debate: Accident and Emergency Services Provision (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: There is no pretence. I am very aware that there is a serious problem with overcrowding, trolleys and delayed discharges in our hospitals. In many ways, they are symptoms of a more systemic problem within our hospitals. Warnings are not solutions. Solutions require plans, money, action and co-operation. It was mentioned that there are approximately 800 delayed discharges. The additional...

Topical Issue Debate: Accident and Emergency Services Provision (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: -----but it will be a very high priority for me next year. I will not promise that I can magic it away through action and money. It will require a persistent focus over a long period of months.

Topical Issue Debate: Accident and Emergency Services Provision (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Deputies Billy Kelleher and Finian McGrath for raising this issue. Many emergency departments are currently experiencing overcrowding, although Beaumont is one of the worst. It is a busy time of the year, with increased numbers presenting for treatment and requiring extended observation or admission. This is compounded by a rise in winter-related illnesses. As well as larger...

An Bille um an gCeathrú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (An Ceart chun Féinriarachta Pearsanta agus Sláine Colainne) 2014: An Dara Céim [Comhaltaí Príobháideacha] - Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Personal Autonomy and Bodily Integrity) Bill 2014: Second Stage [Private Members] (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The Private Members' Bill before the House proposes to do two things - namely, to delete the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and, in so doing, remove the constitutional right to life afforded both to the mother and to the unborn child, and to insert a new provision acknowledging the citizen's right to personal autonomy and bodily integrity. It also affords us another opportunity to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Tobacco Control Measures (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, Tobacco Free Ireland, Ireland’s policy on smoking, sets a target for Ireland to be tobacco free by 2025. In practice, this will mean a smoking prevalence rate of less than 5%. The two key themes underpinning the report are protecting children and the denormalisation of smoking. The introduction of standardised packaging of tobacco is just one of over...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Tobacco Control Measures (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: As the Deputy will be aware, Government approval was received on 19thNovember 2013 to proceed with drafting the Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013. The legislation has now been passed by the Seanad and Second Stage of the Bill concluded in the Dáil on 2nd October 2014. The Bill was formally notified to the Commission and to Member States under the EU Technical...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Staff Contracts (16 Dec 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on this 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.