Results 8,481-8,500 of 12,403 for speaker:Louise O'Reilly

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: I am specifically asking how that figure was arrived at. The HSE did not reach it but it must have been based on something.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: No, it was not plucked out of the sky or anywhere else. There must have been targets. Someone looked at this and came up with a figure of €346 million, as opposed to €350 million, for example. Perhaps I am being cynical but maybe someone suggested a figure of €350 million and someone else decided to make it €346 million in order to seem more credible.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: Yes, but it has to have come from somewhere.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: No, I have not.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: On that point, the HSE appeared to put a bit of distance between itself and the Department on that decision. My memory of it is that the executive said it was given this target. Someone should have sat down with the HSE to determine if the target was realistic, which we know now was not the case, and how the HSE was going to reach it. Where was it going to find those savings? It is not...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: The demand is created by sick people.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: My question was whether the Minister of State thinks this is a responsible way to fund the health service. I would be surprised if the answer to that is "Yes". I do not think it is responsible to fund it this way and nor does the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: I am referring to funding it from corporation tax receipts and interest. Those sources of funding are not reliable

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: IFAC has said that the health overruns are being masked by unexpected increases in corporation tax revenue and interest.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: The budget overruns are being masked.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: It is also a question for the Department of Health.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: IFAC made a specific comment about the health budget and overruns, which is what we are here to discuss today. The council was very clear on the matter. I asked the Minister of State if he thinks that is a responsible way to fund the health service and he said that it is not being funded in that way. In actual fact, it is because the overrun is part of the spend now.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council differs with the Minister of State on that point.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: The IFAC specifically targeted the health service overruns. Trying to pretend that overruns are not part of the spend is nonsense. They are clearly part of the spend but they are being funded from an unreliable source. I asked the Minister of State whether he thought that was responsible. He may think it is responsible, but I do not agree with him.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: I apologise if I came across as cross-examining. I am trying to get a specific answer.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: Absolutely, Chairman.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2018
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: Yes. The Minister of State mentioned that he would provide me with some figures on agency spending. He mentioned the issue of conversion. When we had Mr. Stephen Mulvany from the HSE before the committee, we asked whether specific targets were set relating to the conversion of agency staff. It appeared this was not the case. I keep going back to the figure of €346 million in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: 64. To ask the Minister for Health if resources will be forthcoming for the breast multidisciplinary team and for the diabetes and endocrine diseases clinic at Cork University Hospital to increase staff, tackle delays, allow for referral pathways and other associated issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50778/18]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Maternity Services (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: 97. To ask the Minister for Health when the position taken by Dáil Éireann following the passing of a Private Members Bill on 3 May 2017, which called for the national maternity hospital to remain within public ownership and have legally guaranteed independence from all non-medical influence, will be implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50776/18]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disability Support Services (5 Dec 2018)

Louise O'Reilly: 99. To ask the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to claims made by interviewees in a report (details supplied) that the HSE compelled organisations to sign service arrangements on the basis of known but formally unrecorded deficits; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50777/18]