Results 8,921-8,940 of 11,979 for speaker:Billy Kelleher
- General Practitioner Services (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: This will involve a contractual change in terms of how the Department assesses medical card qualification because up until now it was based on means, not on illness. This change will involve contractual discussions with GPs. The GPs represent the front line in the delivery of care, as the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, more than anybody else, will be aware. We are talking about the...
- General Practitioner Services (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Could we get clarity as to whether the Minister intends to sit down on a formalised basis with the IMO and others to tease out the issue of the contractual changes that will be required in the implementation of the first phase of free primary GP care? In terms of the funding of this roll-out and the fact the Minister is talking about having free GP care available to everybody by the end of...
- General Practitioner Services (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: In the context of long-term illness, as far as I can ascertain in research, there has been no long-term illnesses added to the scheme since the mid-1970s. Will there be an extension of the illnesses that will qualify as long-term illness? Motor neurone disease, asthma, bipolar disorder and many others are not part of the long-term illness scheme. In the context of the roll-out of free GP...
- General Practitioner Services (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: I accept that.
- General Practitioner Services (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Qualification of diseases.
- Prescription Charges (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: The Minister made a statement some time ago about the abolition of prescription charges. The first parliamentary question I tabled to this Government was to the Minister for Finance. He informed me Government members were fully aware and briefed in advance of the programme for Government of the difficult circumstances in every Department. Yet, the Minister for Health still made a statement...
- Prescription Charges (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: The Minister maintained it would be budget neutral.
- Prescription Charges (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: What about the builders?
- Hospital Services (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Selective quotations are in vogue. At the same conference, the secretary of the INMO stated the management at up to ten hospitals were putting pressure on nursing staff to move patients from the accident and emergency departments to inpatient wards. Does the Minister accept the veracity of that statement and if it is the case, would it not put significant pressure on people to take...
- Nursing Home Repayment Scheme (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Question 1: To ask the Minister for Health the terms of reference of the fair deal review; if this review will take into account broader issues regarding the State's care for the elderly; the person who will be carrying out this review; if it will be a private company; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24407/12]
- Nursing Home Repayment Scheme (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: In the context of the fair deal scheme, most people accept it has brought certainty in terms of funding for relatives in nursing homes. It is clear, however, that the longer the review goes on, the more it undermines confidence and certainty in the scheme in terms of ensuring that funding will be in place when people need nursing home supports. I am amazed that in advance of the review up...
- Nursing Home Repayment Scheme (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Does the Minister of State not accept that the longer the review goes on - we might have to wait ten or 12 months before the review is finalised and acted upon - the more uncertainty is created? Equally, does she not agree that grave concerns were propagated previously about property and the 5% per year up to a maximum of 15% over three years? The Minister of State has opened up that debate...
- Nursing Home Repayment Scheme (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: That reinforces the view that there was a great deal of scaremongering when the scheme was being established in 2009 in terms of the number of people who would be forced to sell their homes to fund the scheme. There is no getting away from the fact there will be fewer beds in the system. There is no doubt about that. The number of beds is being reduced continually and the figures exist to...
- Medicinal Products (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Question 4: To ask the Minister for Health if he will consider reversing the decision of the National Centre for Pharmaeconomics to halve the threshold used to measure value for money; if his attention has been drawn to the knock-on effects this decision is having on sufferers of major illnesses including prostate cancer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24408/12]
- Medicinal Products (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: I am disappointed with the decision of the HSE to reduce the threshold used for determining cost-effectiveness. The NCPE makes recommendations, but these are based on values of life expectancy and quality of life. The HSE has decided to reduce the threshold from â¬40,000 to â¬20,000, which will have a negative impact on many people who are waiting for breakthrough medicines or new drugs...
- Medicinal Products (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: I appreciate the Minister of State's reply, but we must recall that the Minister for Health, when on this side of the House, accused a previous Minister of criminal negligence with regard to the delay in the roll-out of the HPV vaccination programme for girls. What we are looking at is a reduction in the threshold for determining value for money which will ensure people will die because they...
- Medicinal Products (16 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: There has been a change.
- Written Answers — Inter-Country Adoptions: Inter-Country Adoptions (15 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Question 98: To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of inter country adoptions approved in 2011 by Irish residents adopting from Hague ratified countries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24021/12]
- Written Answers — Ministerial Staff: Ministerial Staff (15 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Question 143: To ask the Taoiseach the staffing levels of the private offices and constituency offices of Ministers and Ministers of State in his Department; the salary of each; the same figures for this time in 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23773/12]
- Written Answers — Motor Taxation: Motor Taxation (15 May 2012)
Billy Kelleher: Question 349: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if a person (details supplied) bringing his own car into Ireland is eligible for a rebate, as he has abided by all the rules but still has been issued a fine, as he could not tax his car without the NCT. [23855/12]