Results 5,361-5,380 of 10,459 for speaker:Bertie Ahern
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: That is the intention. It got priority approval for drafting. We do not have a date but we hope to have the Bill as soon as possible and take all stages. I am aware that we must try to get the legislation out in time.
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: There are a number of health Bills. Today, the Health (Repayment Scheme) Bill 2006 is before the House. There is a nursing home Bill and, of course, the health Bill. In my previous reply to the Deputy, I should have talked about the health Bill because it was that Bill that was published. I was incorrect if I said the eligibility for health and personal social services Bill, which will...
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: The Bill will be introduced this session.
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: I will check the provision and see where we are in respect of it. I agree fully with what the Deputy said. These people were going through the process but did not reach its end. In the interests of their health, they would do best to follow the process.
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: It is listed for this session but I do not know the exact date. The Deputy knows that this session goes up to the date of the start of the next session. I do not know when the Bill will be ready.
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: I understand the Bill is before the Seanad today and if it is finished there, I presume it can be taken in this House next week, but that is a matter for the party Whips.
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: Tuesday, 13 June is a long time away. I am glad to see that the committees are scheduling their time because the problem with them is that they are usually all over the place.
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: I could talk for some time about the difficulties in getting legislation through.
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: I agree with Deputy McManus's first point and it is our intention to get the Bill through, but it is not ready yet. It will be another two weeks before it comes before the Government, but it is important and, if possible, we will try to get it through before the summer recess. The Government has not yet received the report on Leas Cross. The HSE, I understand, has the report.
- Order of Business. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: As I mentioned earlier, the heads of that Bill will be published for consultation later this year, but it is unlikely that the Bill will be through this year.
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: The agreed programme has not been renegotiated. It is still the programme to which the Government is working. Every year, we produce a report on the updated position and Ministers answer questions every day. The individual cases reported in last night's "Prime Time Investigates" programme on the accident and emergency services were very distressing for the individuals concerned, their...
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: A considerable number of beds are being brought into operation in a number of hospitals under the capital programme and this year's capital programme continues this work. We have introduced step-down beds and beds for the elderly hired from the private sector.
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: An initiative by the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children takes private beds out of public hospitals to designate them as private hospital beds. There is a debate within the HSE, which is the reason it is carrying out this re-examination. Senior figures in the HSE and the Department of Health and Children would argue that it relates more to the operation and use of acute beds and...
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: I would like to believe that if we had every one of the beds today, it would sort out all of the problems in accident and emergency units, but that is not so and Deputy Rabbitte would not believe that either. The Government has provided and built new high-cost acute beds and will continue to do so in the capital programme for this year in respect of a number of new units. I was making a point...
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: If the Deputy knows more than the doctors, that is fair enough, but this is what they say.
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: The truth is we have 500,000 day care cases.
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: Those people do not need to hold acute beds on a weekly basis. That is the argument. The HSE argues that we need to get a far better utilisation of our current number of beds. This is one issue. We need more step-down beds for the elderly and for people who have finished their acute care and are required to be discharged to a suitable setting. We do not have enough of those beds and that is...
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: I am dealing with the problems of the past few years, I am not talking about what happened in previous years.
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: Those step-down beds are crucial and we have hired them from the private sector because they are not available in the public system. Last year the Tánaiste announced that 1,000 beds in acute hospitals that are designated private will be redesignated as public beds to improve the flow of public patients in our hospitals. These are just some of the issues concerning beds but there is a whole...
- Programme for Government. (16 May 2006)
Bertie Ahern: Deputy Naughten will acknowledge that the Government was right to fight for balanced regional development. He will recall it was not a popular issue when I fought for the division of the country into two regions to obtain greater resources for the Border, midland and western regions.