Results 7,501-7,520 of 15,268 for speaker:Kathleen Lynch

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

Kathleen Lynch: I wish to make a brief comment on this matter as people are interested in it. We have put in place a counselling service for people with medical cards, to which GPs have direct access. That service is for people with mild to moderate depression rather than they having to go through the whole system in terms of mental health. That service is working very well. It is significant that a GP...

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

Kathleen Lynch: We did not discuss it.

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

Kathleen Lynch: I will be very brief. The most significant development so far as my areas of responsibility are concerned would have been the appointment of the two directors in recent months, Mr. Stephen Mulvany, who has sole responsibility for mental health, and Mr. Pat Healy, who has responsibility for disability and older people, all very sensitive areas. In recent months, since their appointment, the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Home Help Service Provision (16 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

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

Kathleen Lynch: As the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Home Help Service Provision (16 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: I understand that the Health Service Executive replied to the Deputy's question on 3rd December, 2013. As the particular case referred to by the Deputy relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for investigation and direct reply to the Deputy.

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

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

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

Kathleen Lynch: The Government is providing funding of €1.4 billion to the Disability Services Programme in 2014, including an additional €14m to address the priority needs identified by the Minister for Health and advised to the Health Service Executive (HSE). The additional funding includes provision for new places for school-leavers and rehabilitative (life-skills) training graduates. The...

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

Kathleen Lynch: The prices of drugs vary between countries for a number of reasons, including different prices set by manufacturers, different wholesale and pharmacy mark-ups, different dispensing fees and different rates of VAT. The State has introduced a series of reforms in recent years to reduce pharmaceutical prices and expenditure. These have resulted in reductions in the price of thousands of...

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

Kathleen Lynch: The REHAB Group receives funding from the Health Service Executive under Section 39 of the Health Act 2004. The Department has asked the HSE to provide the Deputy with the funding provided to the REHAB Group from 2008 to 2012. Staff in organisations funded under Section 39 of the Health Act 2004, including the REHAB Group, are not classified as public servants. They are not counted in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Application Numbers (16 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: The needs of our older people are, and will remain, a very high priority for me and for the Government, and the resources that are available will be applied to provide the best possible mix of supports and services in a way that most effectively matches the needs and preferences of older people themselves, with a particular focus on enabling people to live as independently as possible in the...

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

Kathleen Lynch: I propose to take Questions Nos. 335 to 337, inclusive, together. This Government has prioritised the reform of our mental health services in line with A Vision for Change and is committed in particular to the delivery of more and better quality care in the community. Additional funding totalling €70 million and some 900 new posts have been provided as part of the 2012 and 2013...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Applications (16 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Disabilities Services Funding (15 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: The confusion between the Senators was my fault as much anyone else's and I apologise for it. Senator Mulcahy asked if he could share time.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Disabilities Services Funding (15 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: We are at the end of the day and time constraints should not be the issue. I would love to give the formal answer and read out the five pages prepared but that would not satisfy anyone. The prepared answer goes into Government policy, which we all know, particularly Senators Conway and Mulcahy. Some €1.4 billion is spent on disability and 80% of it goes to non-statutory agencies...

Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service Response Times (15 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: I am glad that Deputy McConalogue finished on the note he did because any of us who have been in receipt of the services that ambulance crews provide know that they are an exceptional group of people, both men and women. I thank Deputies Adams and McConalogue for raising these issues today. At the outset I express my sympathies to the families involved. Regarding the response of the...

Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service Response Times (15 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: I compliment both Deputies on the respectful way this issue has been dealt with. While the assurances any Government might give might be some small comfort, it is not a great comfort for people who lose a loved one. I cannot guarantee Deputy McConalogue that there will be a full investigation. However, whenever there is a critical incident it is fully investigated. In this unfortunate...

Topical Issue Debate: Primary Care Centres Provision (15 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: While I might have some chance of having some influence in the Department of Health, I am not certain that I can extend my influence to the Department of Social Protection. Nevertheless, I will make sure the Deputy's contribution will reach the desk of the Minister for Social Protection. My experience of how primary care is developed is that the HSE writes to all the GPs in an area to ask...

Topical Issue Debate: Primary Care Centres Provision (15 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The programme for Government sets out the Government's commitment to ensuring a better and more efficient health system - a single-tier health service that will deliver equal access to health care based on need and not on income. In a developed primary care system, up to 95% of people's day-to-day health and social care needs can be met in the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: National Disability Strategy Implementation Plan Issues (15 Jan 2014)

Kathleen Lynch: In line with the Programme for Government commitment a National Disability Strategy Implementation Plan (NDSIP) was published in July 2013 following significant consultation and consideration between relevant Government Departments and representatives of a broad range of Disability organisations. This Plan sets out the practical measures that will be taken to advance the National Disability...