Results 32,981-33,000 of 46,095 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Health Care Policy (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I agree fully on the need for new contracts. It is very important, and not just in the area of general practice. There is political buy-in. Every political party and grouping in this House, bar one, decided to sign off on the report. There is a role for Government as well. As the committee members have pointed out, while the committee has costed the proposals, it was not its role to...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: National Maternity Hospital (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for her question and her ongoing interest in this very important matter. I would strongly refute the suggestion that the month came and went. As the Deputy will be aware, during that month there was significant engagement between myself, the chairs of the National Maternity Hospital and St. Vincent's, and the CEOs and masters of both hospitals, as well as extensive...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: National Maternity Hospital (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for her comments. The structure proposed in respect of the new National Maternity Hospital is envisaged as standing apart from the current St. Vincent's Healthcare Group. It retains the mastership structure. We have had a lot of public discourse and debate about this. Although I always like to be forthcoming with information, I must be conscious of what I say as we...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Health Care Policy (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his kind wishes and important question. This is a preview of what I imagine will be a more substantive debate on the Sláintecare report in the House tomorrow. Supporting the establishment of the cross-party Committee on the Future of Healthcare in June 2016 was one of the first actions I took on becoming Minister for Health. I commend genuinely the great work...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Contracts (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: My predecessor, now the Taoiseach, is committed to cracking the challenges once and for all as a country that face the health service and he made that clear in one of his first speeches as Taoiseach in this House. I share that view and that commitment. I expect to make substantial progress on a new GP contract this year, but I am also saying that should not be the end of the matter....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Nursing Staff Recruitment (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: Deputy O'Reilly and I get to hang out another bit longer anyway. I thank the Deputy for her repeated question on what is an important issue in relation to nurse and midwifery numbers in this country. As the Deputy will probably be aware, nursing and midwifery numbers at the end of April this year stood at 36,549 whole-time equivalents, having increased by 625 whole-time equivalents in...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Nursing Staff Recruitment (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I did not think the Deputy would be. Thankfully, when the INMO members had an opportunity to be balloted on this, over 80% of them voted in favour of these proposals, seeing them for what they are, which is a genuine and sincere effort by nurse representatives in this country, by my Department, by myself and by the HSE to try and increase recruitment and retention of nurses. I will give...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: Nursing Staff Recruitment (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: To answer the Deputy's question directly, I am clear that the commitment in the agreement is to have 1,208 additional nurses, not just recruits, working in the Irish public health service. Deputy Louise O'Reilly is correct in saying we need to do everything we can to keep our nurse graduates here. It is also right though, and indeed moral, that as a country we would go to some of the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Contracts (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: A core tenet of Government policy is the development of primary care, which is central to the Government's objective of delivering a high-quality, integrated and cost effective health service. The aim is to develop a new modernised GP contract which will facilitate the shift within the health service away from hospital services towards an integrated primary care service in order to deliver...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Contracts (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I welcome my new colleague in the Department of Health, the Minister of State, Deputy Jim Daly, who I know will bring vigour and energy to his areas of responsibility. I do not think there is anything wrong with my answer, because GPs and patients have been waiting for at least three decades for a new GP contract. Within weeks of coming into office, I began the process of engagement to...

Leaders' Questions (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I have already met them.

Leaders' Questions (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: Deputy Martin is undermining the Judiciary.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Public Sector Staff (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: Arising from recent talks between the Government and public sector staff representative bodies, the draft Public Service Stability Agreement was finalised on 8th June 2017. It applies across the public service as a whole. It contains a specific commitment with regard to recruitment and retention in certain parts of the public sector. Under this commitment, the Agreement sets out a process...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Vaccination Programme (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: As Deputies are aware, immunisation is regarded as one of the safest and most cost-effective of health care interventions. It is a recognised simple and safe way of protecting people against harmful diseases such as meningitis, measles, mumps and rubella and influenza. The importance of vaccination is acknowledged by all the major international health organisations, particularly the World...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres Provision (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: Primary care centres enable the provision of a broader and more integrated set of primary care services. In the first instance they bring together HSE staff who in many cases have previously been operating from older, more dispersed locations. They are intended to facilitate more integrated working by primary and social care staff in the HSE and general practitioners as members of primary...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Eligibility (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: A key recommendation of the 2014 Report of the Expert Panel on Medical Need for Medical Card Eligibilitywas that a person’s means should remain the main qualifier for a medical card. The report also concluded that it is neither feasible nor desirable to list conditions in priority order for medical card eligibility. Therefore, medical card provision is solely based on financial...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Assisted Human Reproduction Services Provision (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: In February 2016, the Health Research Board (HRB) was engaged to conduct a comprehensive review of international public funding models for assisted human reproduction (AHR). The HRB evidence review is now complete and was published simultaneously on the Department of Health’s and the HRB's websites on Wednesday 15 March 2017. This evidence review from the HRB examines the public...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Consultant Recruitment (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: Galway University Hospital serves as a regional centre for the delivery of diabetes, endocrine and related services in the West of Ireland. This clinical care is delivered in close collaboration with related education and research programmes in the National University of Ireland, Galway. During 2015 a consultant vacancy arose in the paediatric diabetes service at Galway University...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 63 and 105 together. In his review of cardiology services at University Hospital Waterford, Dr Niall Herity concluded that the needs of the effective catchment population of the hospital could be accommodated from a single cath lab. However, Dr Herity recommended additional investment to increase capacity at the hospital. In that regard, an additional...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Public Sector Pay (21 Jun 2017)

Simon Harris: I can confirm that officials from my Department and the HSE participated in the recent pay talks to discuss a successor agreement to the Lansdowne Road Agreement which were held at the Workplace Relations Commission. A draft Public Service Agreement was reached on 8 June 2017 and is currently being considered by the unions in the context of the public servants they represent. Any...