Results 6,541-6,560 of 11,979 for speaker:Billy Kelleher

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: Is the Minister saying that they are scaremongering? Is he saying that advocacy groups who campaign and represent older people are scaremongering? Is he saying that every Deputy here is scaremongering? More important, is he accusing the Deputies on his side of the House of scaremongering?

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: Is the Minister accusing all those people of scaremongering? That is what is happening and the Minister can dress it up any way he likes. I am not scaremongering. I am speaking to the facts and many Deputies on both sides of the House, when speaking on a Private Members’ motion, highlighted the serious difficulties in accessing medical cards.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: That is the fact of the matter.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: I will and we will stick to the substance of the Bill. The Minister referred to other areas in the context of the provision of primary care. He mentioned universality and universal health insurance, UHI. The difficulty is that the Minister’s credibility in this area is well questioned because the Minister for Finance announced to the Dáil on budget day that he was putting a cap...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: We are having a debate on the broad substance of the issue. It is a requirement to have funding in place to fund medical care.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: The Minister for Health put a cap on the tax relief of €1,000 for an adult and €500 for a child.

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: Yes, this is the exact point. It was the Minister for Finance. He has driven a coach and four through the Minister’s policy on universal health insurance. In every stated policy that the Minister for Health has advocated from time to time, he has said that we would have a vibrant private health insurance market, that there would be competition and a flow of insurers into this State...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: That is a very serious attack on the affordability of private health insurance. It comes back to this Bill because it must be asked what is happening now. Private health insurance is becoming unaffordable for many in society. I accept that there is an economic backdrop to the number of people falling out of health insurance but the Minister for Health's policy decisions have been...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: We are being asked to legislate for a real betrayal of policy on eligibility criteria for those aged over 70. By any credible stretch of the imagination, this is a full-frontal assault on the over 70s. The Minister stated previously that people should be entitled to medical care based on need, not on their ability to pay. He spoke about universal entitlement to GP access, but this Bill...

Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: The Taoiseach told us that it would affect only 3% of the people. Not only can the Minister not do his sums, but the Taoiseach cannot do his sums either. According to the Taoiseach, 3% of those over 70 were going to be affected by the reversal of policy on eligibility in this budgetary proposal. I do not mind having a cut and thrust, but it takes hard brass neck to come in here and state...

Other Questions: Medicinal Products Expenditure (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: I thank the Minister of State for his response.

Other Questions: Medicinal Products Expenditure (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: He does. Hopefully, those measures will come to fruition. Time and again, the difficulty is that anticipated savings are not being realised. This year, we will have a shortfall of €40 million, placing pressure on other services. At the back end of the year, we now have a certain amount of fire brigade action in our hospital budget and the broader budget to try to rein in costs. It...

Other Questions: Medicinal Products Expenditure (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: 8. To ask the Minister for Health the net savings he anticipates in 2014 in the State’s expenditure on drugs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48050/13]

Other Questions: Medicinal Products Expenditure (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: This question is about the net savings the Minister anticipates in 2014 in the State's expenditure on drugs. The reason I ask the question is that I note there have been agreements with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association, IPHA, and the Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers in Ireland, APMI. However, in the Estimates last year it was reckoned there would be a saving of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Strategy (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: My only fear is that the Minister of State actually believes what he read because if he does he is completely removed from what is happening in primary care. GP services throughout the country are under huge pressure. In supporting GPs there is an obligation to deliver on the primary care strategy, including the roll-out of chronic disease management and the other things the Minister of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Strategy (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: That is simply not the case.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Strategy (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: In 2001.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Strategy (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: We have handed it over to the Minister, Deputy Reilly, since then.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Strategy (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: It is a pity we did not get some answers. I remind the Minister of State that we are not in a courtroom but in the Dáil Chamber and my duty is to hold him to account.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Primary Care Strategy (13 Nov 2013)

Billy Kelleher: I am not here to advocate for GPs. However, the Minister of State might understand that GPs are the ones who see patients every week in their surgeries. However, they now cannot see them on the same day. In some cases referral times are down to two or three minutes. That is what is happening in surgeries and, as the person responsible, the Minister of State should know that, rather than...