Results 5,681-5,700 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: Fair play to Deputy Troy for getting as many questions in as he could. I can come back to Deputy Regina Doherty about scope and objectives regarding e-health and give her a very detailed answer. This is a hugely important initiative and we have nearly finished our ICT strategy, which will be ready in the next few weeks. It is critically important for the reform of the health service. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: Perhaps Mr. Carter might expand on the intervention fund. He asked about the €30 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: Dr. O’Halloran will address the nurse prescribing issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: I will begin by responding to Senator Colm Burke. He notes the full report will not be ready until June and is somewhat disappointed. I must respectfully say to him that this is the first time this has been done. It has been a running sore for 30-odd years. There has been an initial report in order that some changes can take place but to do the full job on this, particularly in respect of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: Absolutely and there is that whole issue around nursing homes where historically, nursing home owners did not want people dying in the nursing homes, thereby giving them a bad reputation. We are trying to move away from that culture and explain to people that this is their home and most people want to die at their home. They do not wish to spend the last 12 hours of their lives sitting on a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: Births, marriages and deaths, or hatches, matches and dispatches, as they are referred to, are in a different section. Consequently, it is up to the GPs, who must play ball in this regard. The Deputy should not get me wrong, as in the main they are. I believe this is working well and this is the reason much of the work on the issue of probity etc. already has been done on this. This is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: I did not talk about staged payments at all. There is no question that anybody would be denied legal representation. What I did say, however, was that I wanted to ensure that any funds we could procure in order to compensate for the pain, hardship, hurt and distress caused would go to those who suffered and not to members of the legal profession. That is one matter about which I am very...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: With respect, that is the job of those advocating for GPs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: I did not quite catch that comment, but I got a sense of it. At the end of November, 1,983,572 people in this country were in possession of either a medical card or a GP visit card. In fact, the numbers in receipt of both have risen by 500,000 in recent years. In other words, more people than ever have access to GP care under the GMS scheme. I am engaged in discussions with the Minister...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: I will invite various speakers from the HSE and the Department to answer some of the specific questions about which they are more knowledgeable. I will address Deputy Kelleher's questions first. He is concerned about a downgrading of services as a consequence of hospital grouping. On the contrary, the hospital groups will have local knowledge and autonomy which will enable them to decide...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health and HSE (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: I apologise for the responses to members' questions being delivered so soon in advance of this meeting. We will certainly endeavour to ensure this does not happen again. The members of this important committee should have time to consider the responses they get. I am grateful to the Chairman and the committee for inviting me to discuss health services here today. As the Chairman pointed...

Written Answers — Department of Health: HSE Staffing (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: There is currently no package being considered to encourage staff to retire early. The Government has decided that the numbers employed across the public service must be reduced in order to meet its fiscal and budgetary targets. The health sector must make its contribution to that reduction. This policy requires the health service to reduce its workforce to 94,209 wholetime equivalent...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: It is the policy of my Department to keep costs in relation to the use of photographers to a minimum. The information requested by the Deputy up to June 2013 is displayed below. I will forward to the Deputy details from July 2013 when it is available. Occasion for which photography was booked Name of photographer Costs Seminar: Parental Substance Misuse – Addressing its Impact on...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Public Relations Contracts Data (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: The Press and Communications Office of my Department liaise with the media on behalf of the Department as well as all Ministers and do not use the services of a PR company. My Department did not spent any money on public relations or communications consultants from March 2011 - January 2014. It is the policy in my Department only to engage the services of external consultants where it is...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: The management of inpatient and daycase waiting lists for patients awaiting public health care is based on the principle that after urgent and cancer patients are treated, then clinically assessed routine patients should be seen in chronological order (i.e. longest waiter first). Should the patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Expenditure (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: The information requested by the Deputy is not immediately available within my Department. The information is being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Accommodation Provision (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: Management of the healthcare property portfolio is a service matter. Therefore your question has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Insurance Prices (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: As Minister, I have no legal power to intervene in relation to health insurance prices set by the health insurance providers. The insurance companies, operating as commercial providers, make commercial decisions about their prices. Many consumers can make savings on their health insurance premiums by reviewing their level of cover to ensure that their needs are being met, without being...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Services for People with Disabilities (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: As the particular issue raised by the Deputy relates to an individual case, this is a service matter for the Health Service Executive. Accordingly, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Access (16 Jan 2014)

James Reilly: In vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment is not provided by the public health system. Patients who access IVF treatment privately may claim tax relief on the costs involved under the tax relief for medical expenses scheme. In addition, a defined list of fertility medicines needed for fertility treatment is covered under the High Tech Scheme administered by the Health Service Executive (HSE)....