Results 8,141-8,160 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: Regulation (EC) 1408/71 provides, inter alia, that people who are insured with or covered by the health care system of one Member State may access health care in the public system of another Member State in certain circumstances. Under the provisions of this Regulation, an Irish resident who goes to another Member State on a temporary stay but who remains ordinarily resident in Ireland is...

Written Answers — National Lottery Funding: National Lottery Funding (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: National Lottery funding, including Capital Funding, allocated to the Health Service Executive (and health boards prior to 2005) for the years 2000 and 2008 is as follows: Year Amount Allocation â'¬m 2000 5.193 2001 5.287 2002 5.496 2003 5.584 2004 5.669 2005 9.557 2006 8.883 2007 10.241 2008 10.052 The HSE has the operational and funding responsibility for National Lottery...

Written Answers — Vaccination Programme: Vaccination Programme (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: Two vaccines to prevent Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infections are licensed for use in Ireland. The vaccines can be administered to females with a minimum age of 9 years. Three doses are required over a six month period. The cost of the vaccine is set by the manufacturers and the cost of its administration on a private basis is a matter between individuals and their medical practitioners....

Written Answers — Hospitals Building Programme: Hospitals Building Programme (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: The Board of the HSE has approved preferred bidder status for the development of co-located hospitals at Beaumont Hospital and at five other public hospitals. Project Agreements for the Beaumont Hospital project and for two of the other projects were signed in March 2008 and preparatory work for the Project Agreements for the three remaining projects is proceeding. Planning permission was...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: In 2006 and 2007, additional revenue funding of €6.78 million (€4.78m in 2006, €2m in 2007) was provided to the Health Service Executive (HSE) to develop services for people with cystic fibrosis. The Department is advised that 44 additional staff dealing with cystic fibrosis have been appointed to date across a number of hospitals, including St Vincent's, Beaumont, Temple Street,...

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: As the Health Service Executive has the operational and funding responsibility for the medical card benefit, it is the appropriate body to consider the particular case raised by the Deputy. My Department has therefore requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to address this matter and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: Entitlement to health services in Ireland is primarily based on residency and means. Any person, regardless of nationality, who is accepted by the Health Service Executive (HSE) as being ordinarily resident in Ireland is entitled to either full eligibility (Category 1, i.e. medical card holders) or limited eligibility (Category 2) for health services. The HSE normally regards a person as...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: The Deputy may be referring to the report by Dr Ronnie Pollock which was commissioned by the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland and published in 2005. Following publication of this report, the Health Service Executive established a Working Group to undertake a detailed review of cystic fibrosis services. The Group, which was multi-disciplinary in its composition, was asked to review the...

Written Answers — Hospital Waiting Lists: Hospital Waiting Lists (26 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: The Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) carried out a value for money examination of the Waiting List Initiative for the period between 1998 and 2002 and presented his report in 2003. Among the findings, the C&AG report pointed to the scope for coordinating waiting list funding more effectively. In light of this, and the commitment in the 2001 Health Strategy to reform the organisation...

Written Answers — Infectious Diseases: Infectious Diseases (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: Every outbreak of a serious infection such as Clostridium difficile is a cause of concern and I would like to express my sympathy to any patient and/or family who has been affected by the outbreak. Health Care Associated Infections (HCAIs) continue to be a challenge for healthcare systems worldwide. Ireland is not unique in this regard and tackling HCAIs here, including C. difficile,...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 77 and 88 together. I met with the Asthma Society of Ireland recently to hear their proposals for the development of an asthma management programme in Ireland. The proposals included details of successful international initiatives and how they might be applied in this country. My Department has arranged a meeting to include the HSE and the Asthma Society of...

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: I intend to publish legislation to withdraw automatic entitlement to a medical card from persons aged 70 or over as soon as possible and to have it enacted during this Dáil session. The vast majority of people aged 70 or over will still qualify for a medical card. All those with gross incomes of €700 a week in the case of a single person or €1,400 a week in the case of a couple will...

Written Answers — Vaccination Programme: Vaccination Programme (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 79, 128, 273 and 274 together. As I have already indicated, I accept fully the expert advice provided to me in support of the introduction of a cervical cancer vaccination programme. However, I also have a responsibility as Minister to consider this and many other competing priorities within the overall resources available to the health services. My immediate...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 80 and 207 together. I will not be requesting a further investigation into this matter, as I am satisfied that the review just completed was thorough and comprehensive. It is not correct to say that significant pieces of information are missing from the report. The review took the form of a clinical look-back. It was carried out to identify any possible...

Written Answers — Departmental Bodies: Departmental Bodies (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: The HSE was set up to manage and deliver health and personal social services. One of the core objectives of the health reform programme was to provide clear lines of accountability and to simplify structures. I have made it clear on many occasions that I want to see health and personal care provided to patients on an integrated basis. I have also made it clear to the HSE that there needs to...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: Last July the Government decided that a targeted voluntary early retirement/redundancy scheme would be introduced for the HSE. This decision was reaffirmed by the Minister for Finance in his Budget speech on 14 October. The scheme will initially be concentrated on surplus management and administrative staff. This will be extended to other staff. It will apply to staff at corporate HSE and...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 83, 101 and 206 together. Patients who require colonoscopies are prioritised on the basis of information about their symptoms provided by their GP. Those where cancer is suspected are dealt with on an urgent basis. Accordingly, longer waiting times apply only to patients in which an urgent clinical need has not been identified by their GP. Waiting times for...

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: The Health Service Executive has advised my Department that it does not envisage any significant additional annual administration costs for the revised arrangements for eligibility to a medical card for persons aged 70 and over.

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: I am aware of the initiatives being taken by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to reconfigure hospital services across the Cavan/Monaghan Hospital Group and in the North East Region generally in order to improve safety and standards of care for patients. I understand that as part of the implementation process senior HSE management briefed staff at Monaghan Hospital along with union and...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (25 Nov 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 89, 103 and 121 together. The Health Service Executive (HSE) indicated earlier this year that it was reviewing the need for cost containment measures to year end to ensure that expenditure across the Louth/Meath Hospital group, including Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, is managed within the approved budget. The HSE indicated that savings would need to be achieved...