Results 30,101-30,120 of 46,095 for speaker:Simon Harris

Other Questions: Maternity Services Provision (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: No, we have not because that will be a matter for the HSE service plan, which is the subject of ongoing discussions within the HSE. It is due to be presented to me and published by the HSE in the coming weeks, and one would hope this will be the case. That will provide the more granular detail of how many and in what year. It is the very clear aim of the programme and the national...

Other Questions: Health Services Expenditure (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for the question, although I can assure him that it could not have been said every year by every Government. Before my party came into Government, the health budget was cut in the previous three budgets. It has not risen every year. The Deputy is right, however, that it has risen significantly again this year. The gross current budget for the health sector...

Other Questions: Orthodontic Services Waiting Lists (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his question. The HSE provides orthodontic treatment to those who have the greatest level of need and have been assessed and referred for treatment before their 16th birthday. An orthodontic assessment determines if the referral meets the criteria for the service and, if so, what priority the patient is given. Those with greatest clinical need are prioritised, which...

Other Questions: Orthodontic Services Waiting Lists (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I assure the Deputy that we are certainly not waiting for any report and that, as I already outlined, under the procurement procedures being put in place, a number of children in Cork and Kerry and a significant number of children throughout the country have had offers of treatment and received orthodontic treatment in a primary care setting through private providers. In addition, as we...

Other Questions: Orthodontic Services Waiting Lists (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: Regarding when the report is due back from the CHO, I will find that out directly from the HSE and revert to the Deputy. I absolutely find this unacceptable. Who could find it acceptable? What I am going to do to solve the problem is probably what citizens and the Deputy's constituents want to know. I am very much open to using the National Treatment Purchase Fund as a vehicle. In many...

Other Questions: Maternity Services Provision (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: Is this question being grouped with Question No. 39?

Other Questions: Maternity Services Provision (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 28 and 39 together. I thank Deputies Tory and Barry for their questions. I accept that the provision of anomaly scanning is not uniform throughout the country. However, we are working to address this. I want to assure Deputy Troy of that. The national maternity strategy is very clear that all women must have equal access to standardised ultrasound...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medicinal Products Supply (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I agree with pretty much everything the Deputy has said. While the PKU Association of Ireland is absolutely campaigning, as would any of us, for their loved ones to have access to this drug, it is also making the broader point about the need to review the equality in the assessment process for rare diseases. I assure the House that process is under way with a new working group of the NCPE....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medicinal Products Supply (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I wish to be very factual. The decision to approve or not is a matter for the HSE leadership team, which will hear from the drugs group under the legislation passed by this House. There may be a view that the process has come to an end and that is it. The NCPE has made its views known and they are a matter of public record. However, commercial negotiations are ongoing. In my 18 months as...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medicinal Products Supply (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the community drugs scheme, under powers this House gave to the HSE in the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. In reaching a decision, the HSE examines all the evidence which may be relevant in its view for the decision and will...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medical Products (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising an important issue. She can do so without the political partisanship she brought to the issue or the suggestion that she has a monopoly on concern for women's health and nobody else gives a damn, which she should really reflect on very carefully. Nobody in this House-----

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medical Products (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: The very clear implication that if this was a male rather than a female condition, she would get a different response is utter tripe and the Deputy should reflect on that based on knowing me and all colleagues in this House who take issues seriously regardless of that issue. What I do is follow the evidence and ask the available experts to carry out the necessary studies. I told the Deputy...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medical Products (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: That is a contribution with which I can agree fully. I will ask the chief medical officer to ascertain as part of his work how many women have availed of this procedure and the international experience in this regard. This involves talking to regulators and expert bodies in Ireland and abroad. If anybody in this country has experienced any pain, suffering or difficulty as a result of a...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medical Card Eligibility (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I know she has been pursuing in the Oireachtas Committee on Health and with the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, and me. An interdepartmental "Make Work Pay" group was set up under the Government's comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities. This group was independently chaired by Professor Frances Ruane...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medical Card Eligibility (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: The Deputy is entirely correct, which is why it is so important that things like the comprehensive employment strategy for people with disabilities is implemented in full. It is the commitment of the Government to do that. The Deputy is right. People with disabilities that the Deputy and I meet do not just want the State to provide them with a support and say "there you go". They want to...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Medical Card Eligibility (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: Again, I agree with the Deputy. There are many men and women in positions similar to that of that young man. The interdepartmental "Make Work Pay" group was set up as part of our comprehensive employment strategy. It prepared a report with findings and recommendations, some of which deal with exactly the issue referred to by the Deputy, namely, the interaction between holding a medical...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Kelleher for his question. We all acknowledge the distress caused to patients and families, and indeed the impact on staff, when cramped and overcrowded conditions are experienced in some of our hospital emergency departments. I have outlined on many occasions what we need to do to break that cycle. I have referred to the bed capacity review and the need for significant...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: With regard to the question of misery, when I refer to publicly available data to counter the figures put forward by the Opposition, why is it acceptable for me to be accused of trying to normalise a bad situation? Nobody, least of all me, has said it is good to have anybody on a trolley. Of course it is not. It is socially unacceptable. We have to do a hell of a lot more. I am not going...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: Absolutely.

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (15 Nov 2017)

Simon Harris: I do not disagree with the Deputy's analysis. Our hospitals are overcrowded. There is not enough capacity. We need a bigger health service in terms of bed capacity. The Sláintecare report, which the Deputy helped to co-author, provides a roadmap in this respect. I look forward to going before the Joint Committee on Health and Children next Thursday to outline the steps we have taken...