Results 28,481-28,500 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Many of these boards have a good gender balance, given the nature of the professions involved. I would be reluctant to prescribe gender quotas in legislation. It is one thing to set a target and try to achieve it but when it is a position like this, particularly involving elected members, it may lead to a case where a person with fewer votes may get a place because he or she is of a...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Section 41 is a technical provision relating to section 42. May I comment on both of them together?

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Section 41 is a technical provision relating to the terminology used in Part 3. It defines the Act of 2013 as the Health (Amendment) Act 2013 and the principal Act as the Health Act 1970. It is a technical provision.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: It is no problem. The Deputy has contacted my office about this already and the intention is not to change the status quo. Sales assistants will still be allowed to help people pick frames, handle cash and so on. The professional function of dispensing will be done by an optometrist or a qualified dispensing optician alone. Between now and Report Stage, I must be satisfied that we have...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The whole point of the legislation is to protect dispensing opticians and optometrists and not to allow their work to be delegated to people who are unqualified.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: The intention is that there will be no change to the status quo. Let us compare the position to that of pharmacies: the person who serves one at the counter might not be a pharmacist but rather a sales assistant. In this instance the person who writes a prescription will be either a doctor or someone with prescribing rights and the individual who dispenses the medicine will be a qualified...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: That is absolutely correct. Obviously, I do not want the work of qualified opticians or optometrists to be delegated to individuals who are not suitably qualified. I do not believe anyone wants this to happen. What we are seeking is clarity in ensuring that what happens at present will continue to be the case. In other words, sales assistants in eyeglass shops will continue to be able to...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: By-laws are laws. As long as they do not conflict with the primary legislation, that is fine. Between now and Report Stage I will clarify that there is nothing to prevent the board from making such by-laws.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: That is a good question. I would have thought that qualified opticians or optometrists would always be on site.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: If that is the case-----

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: In essence, the current practice will continue. No one will be able to establish a business and begin selling glasses without first employing an optometrist or optician. I presume that dispensing does not occur at the outlets the Deputy mentioned on days when the relevant qualified person is not present.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: No.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I understand people's concerns and I stress that we are not trying to create a problem. Between now and Report Stage I will seek to ensure that we are not going to accidentally create such a problem. The intention is to allow the existing practice to continue.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: There is an ophthalmologist on the board. However, I do not want to include in primary legislation a requirement that there should be a certain number of ophthalmologists on the board. The 1956 Act provides for 44 ophthalmologists, who are consultants, to serve on the board. This Bill does not provide for specific representation of medical practitioners. However, the interim board...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: No.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I have had a close look at the matter in the past couple of days. First, I want to clarify that the Opticians Act, 1956 does not currently restrict the employment of assistants to help in selecting frames or processing payments. That means that there will be no change to the status quo under the Bill. By way of background, section 34 of the Bill inserts a new Part 7A into the principal Act...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Alcohol Pricing (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: Addressing the price of alcohol is an important component of any long-term strategic approach to tackling alcohol misuse. There is a link between consumption and harm and evidence that affordability is one of the drivers of increased consumption. The Government has approved an extensive package of measures to deal with alcohol misuse, to be incorporated in a Public Health (Alcohol) Bill....

Written Answers — Department of Health: Registration of Nurses (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: I propose to take Questions Nos. 308, 315, 389 and 395 together. A new Nurses and Midwives Act was passed into legislation in 2011. The Act provides, inter alia, for the protection of the public in its dealings with nurses and midwives and the enhancement of their high standards of professional education and competencies. The Department of Health is responsible for oversight of the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Transport Scheme (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drug and Alcohol Task Forces (7 Oct 2014)

Leo Varadkar: There are currently 14 Local Drugs and Alcohol Task Forces which cover areas where there is the highest concentration of drugs of activity - 12 in Dublin, 1 in Bray and 1 in Cork. Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Forces cover the remainder of the country. Drug and Alcohol Task Forces play a key role in assessing the extent and nature of the drug problem in their areas and coordinating action...