Results 7,361-7,380 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly in relation to this matter. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6thOctober. As a consequence of this industrial action, members...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 661 to 663, inclusive, together. As the Deputy may be aware, a commitment to “introduce a publicly funded model of care for fertility treatment” is included in the Programme for Government. ‎The Model of Care for Fertility was developed by the Department of Health in conjunction with the HSE’s National Women & Infants...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Reports (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The Report ‘Monitoring and Evaluating the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018: A report from the Public Health Alcohol Research Group 2020-2022’, is currently under consideration in my Department. Decisions with regard to next actions including publication will be taken once this process has been completed.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Diabetes is a complex condition that can require management across the entire spectrum of healthcare delivery, including self-management support as well as care delivered through general practice, community specialist care and hospital inpatient specialist care. The inclusion of diabetes as one of four chronic diseases in respect of which GMS patients receive ongoing, planned care from...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The Health Service Executive (HSE) has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement under the community drug schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. In making a relevant reimbursement decision, the HSE is required under the Act to have regard to a number of criteria including clinical efficacy, the health needs of the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dental Services (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6th October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Data (23 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: My Department shares data with other Departments and state bodies to deliver official functions and meet obligations provided for in various legislation. This data sharing can involve aggregated and/or individual-level information. Data protection law covers situations in which personal data of an individual is processed. Personal data is only shared or an aggregate or individual level...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Emergency Departments (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: There are two things I would like to say on this. I am fully in agreement with the Deputy on the cases in which people do not get the care they need. That can lead to catastrophic outcomes. A recent example is the report into the tragic death of Aoife Johnston in Limerick. Unfortunately, these things do happen. Sometimes they may be preventable and sometimes they may not but we have to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Emergency Departments (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Let us talk about what is actually happening here. In the lifetime of this Government, more than 1,100 beds, approximately 1,000 consultants and 25,000 healthcare professionals have been added to our health service. We are by no means where we want to be as regards everyone getting the right care at the right time but it is absolutely and undeniably the case that this Government has...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Emergency Departments (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Not for a moment am I going to downplay the real pressures in too many of our hospitals for too many of our patients in accident and emergency departments. However, it is really important that as an Oireachtas we acknowledge the progress our healthcare workers are making. I can tell the Deputy, and I know he will have seen this himself from talking to them, they are working so hard to bring...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy very much. I agree with him. I do not accept that either. We are a nation whose population deserves rapid access to these medicines. We have to strike a balance. We hear advocacy from the pharmaceutical industry regularly citing lengths of time. It has a particular view. Obviously, it wants Ireland to spend as much money as quickly as possible on its products. When...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I will ask the Department to revert to the Deputy with a detailed note on the full process involved in the health technology assessments because there are various parts to them. What I can say is that for this coming year there are going to be some important improvements. One is that we are going to have a medicines tracker for the first time. This is something that Rare Diseases Ireland,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy very much. I put women's healthcare services front and centre in this Government in terms of investment and expansion. I believe we have to make up for many decades of lack of investment. The House broadly agrees that thanks to the work of our healthcare workers there has been important progress over the past three years. We will launch a new women's health action plan...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I cannot comment on the individual case. I am not familiar with it. However, as the Deputy referenced, there was an incident in June 2022 when the HSE notified my Department of a maternal death in the mid-west following a home birth. At that time those services were then stopped. A review is being commissioned, which needs to happen quickly. I discussed this with a group of very...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: We have discussed the issue of homebirth and we need an answer to this that works for women in terms of choice and safety. While that is being progressed, significant improvements are happening across maternity care. Through the strategy we have hired an additional 465 staff who were very badly needed and who are making a big difference. I have been in many of the maternity units and I...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Promotion (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Deputy Funchion. It is something on which, between the legislation we have and the EU's ongoing work, we can go further. As I said, one in every four diagnosed cancers is a non-melanoma skin cancer. It is a significant issue. When I was a much younger man with a full head of hair I went to Australia and lived in Bondi Beach. There was a level of awareness there about skin cancer...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Promotion (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. With regard to the EU's recommendations we need to wait to see. However, the general sense is that it is considering restricting access for high-risk groups, the mandatory supervision of the commercial use of sunbeds, the provision of mandatory eye protection, and increasing awareness by providing information on the risks associated. I have asked the Chief Medical...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (18 Jan 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question. We spend a lot of money on medicines in this country. Last year the medicines investment was more than €3.2 billion. This is a sizeable amount. The vast majority of the €2.8 billion was spent on the medicines themselves. There was also money spent on administration and payments to pharmacists for dispensing amounting to just over...