Results 3,661-3,680 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: The legislation seems to me to be safe in respect of what Senator Burke has said. To some extent the Senator’s concerns are being dealt with, belt and braces, in this amendment. To the extent that there might be such concerns, it seems to me that this resolves them. Existing law and provisions in respect of power of attorney, or enduring power of attorney, have their own legal...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: Amendment No. 8 is essentially a drafting amendment. Section 11 currently allows the Minister for Health to process an individual’s IHI and other identifying particulars in the register for a relevant purpose. Amendment No. 8 brings section 11 into line with section 10 which provides that the Minister may access the national IHI register for a relevant purpose or for the purpose of...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: Amendment No. 9 is a drafting amendment and relates to substituting the word “provide” for the word “disclose” in section 11(6)(d) for consistency.

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: Section 30 allows the Minister for Health to carry out measures to verify any information provided to the Minister under the Bill or to establish the efficient and effective operation of the registers. Amendment No. 10 clarifies that verification arrangements under section 30 would not apply to information given by An tArd Chláraitheoir on births and deaths or information given by other...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: Section 31 provides that for the purposes of the Bill a data exchange agreement may be entered into between the Minister and other persons, including professional regulatory bodies and health service providers. Amendment No. 11 extends section 31 to include all specified persons and not just health service providers as the section currently provides. The amendment also deletes the reference...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: These amendments relate to the lists of persons in Schedules 1 and 2. Schedule 1 lists the authorised disclosees. Schedule 2 lists specified persons. Specified persons may access the IHI register and process the IHI and other identifying data on it for a relevant purpose. Authorised disclosees do not have access to the IHI register but they are persons to whom a specified person may...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: Amendments Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, concern changes to the definition of relevant employees and relevant agents. As the changes are similar in nature it is proposed to discuss the four amendments together. The Bill allows the Minister for Health to assign unique identifiers to health service providers. Providers must use their unique identifiers in health records they make and their...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: The Bill provides that the individual health identifier, IHI, can be used for relevant purposes. These are the primary and secondary purposes set out in the Bill. Primary purpose means the present, past or future provision of health services to an individual. Secondary purpose relates to the wider health service matters, such as health service management and patient safety. This amendment...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: Amendment No. 6, as the Senator has indicated, would delete section 5(3) of the Bill. The purpose of the Health Identifiers Bill is to put in place a legislative framework for individual health identifiers. This is primarily a patient safety issue. Eligibility for health services is a separate, although important, issue and is provided for in other legislation as the Senator and the House...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dental Services Provision (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Appeals (12 Feb 2014)

Alex White: The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Further Education and Training Colleges (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: From what the Senator said, there is terrific work being done in the school with a dedicated staff. It is, however, a question of how we address priorities. The Senator’s request is not unreasonable, but it must fall to be dealt with within the assessment of priorities in the allocation of limited resources. He has made a good case for the school, but it must be seen in the context...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. People aged 16 to 25 years, including students, who are financially independent of their parents may be entitled to a medical card if they pass the means test. If they are financially dependent on their parents, they are normally only entitled to a medical card if their parents have one. They may be entitled to a medical card or a GP visit card...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: I do not have anything to add to the response I gave other than to say any issue which arises in the operation of the GMS is and ought to be kept under review. If there is a specific issue in respect of a particular cohort, I am happy to look carefully at it. However, I do not want the Senator to think there is any intention to make any change in what we are doing. That said, I will...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Further Education and Training Colleges (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: I thank the Senator for raising this Adjournment matter which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Ruairí Quinn. The PLC programme is a self-contained whole-time learning experience designed to provide successful participants with specific vocational skills to enhance their prospects of securing lasting, full-time employment or to...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Health Services Staff Issues (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: I thank the Senator for raising this issue. Between 2012 and 2013, a 14% reduction was achieved nationally in the number of emergency department patients waiting for ward bed accommodation. When compared to the baseline year of 2011, there was a 33.8% reduction in 2013. This is equivalent to 29,200 fewer patients waiting on trolleys, a reflection of the willingness and ability of the...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Health Services Staff Issues (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: I heard the Senator raise this issue in the course of her contribution, but I did not have notice of this specific issue when I came to the House. I will ensure the Senator obtains an answer to this particular question.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rare Diseases Strategy Implementation (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: I thank the Senator for raising this important issue on the Adjournment and providing me with the opportunity to update the House on progress in the development of the national plan for rare diseases. Rare diseases are life threatening or chronic debilitating conditions affecting no more than five in 10,000 people. Between 5,000 and 8,000 rare diseases have been described, affecting...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rare Diseases Strategy Implementation (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: I would like to give the Senator the clarity on specific dates and timelines that he seeks. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to do so today. I know about this area of work. The Senator has raised this issue before; he has been very good at raising it and pressing for action. I will take his raising of it again very much as a spur to engage in further action and specifically to try to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Availability (11 Feb 2014)

Alex White: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.