Results 9,741-9,760 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: Perhaps some of the Deputy's friends in some of the vested interests could have done it. Perhaps the Deputy should have put in a bid for it. Some 39,000 claims have been dealt with.

Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: This money must be paid in accordance with the law enacted by the Oireachtas. We must ensure, in the first instance, that the correct people are paid their money. We do not want a family member or distant relative who may never have visited the old person getting money that somebody else may be entitled to. There is no doubt that it is a very complex legal process but this is necessary...

Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: The only one I am aware of is that which arose in the newspaper last week and which was the subject of a Dáil question by one of the Deputy's colleagues. When I sought to establish the facts, they were very different from what had appeared. The individual who made the application was in her early 80s, which in itself was unusual because generally the applicants are younger relatives or...

Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: Is it 35%? I do not have that data.

Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: I do not have it. If there was a high level of successful appeals, it would indicate first that the appeals process is working. I do not have the figure read out by the Deputy from some note I presume he has from the HSE. It is not in my note that it is as high as 35%. I did say that of the number of appeal applications made, 35% have been dealt with.

Nursing Homes Repayment Scheme. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: Yes, one in four has been dealt with but my note does not tell me they have been successful. I am sorry I do not have that information.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: The money is used for services, drugs, medical cards and hospital care. People are not putting the money in their pockets.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: The Deputy is ranting again.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: In 2007, overall spending by the HSE on palliative care services amounted to €75 million. That includes some, but not all, of the additional €18 million funding that was provided by the Government in budgets 2006 and 2007. The HSE has advised me that some of the remaining funding was used in other parts of its services, particularly in acute hospitals. Clearly, the HSE has to operate...

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: Obviously, the HSE like every other organisation has to live within the resources allocated to it. If they do not do that, they cannot have priorities or make plans and it would be highly disruptive. For the past couple of years we are aware that the new development moneys, including in palliative care, have been redirected to deal with day-to-day issues. For example, last year I...

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: No, he does not require permission.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: Find out what?

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: It has been well known for the past couple of years that new development moneys, including in the mental health and disability sector, were not all used in those sectors. That has been known at the end of each year in 2006 and 2007.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: At the end of each year we know whether the new developments took place.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: The HSE produces——

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: No. The organisation has to live within the resources allocated to it.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: No, it does not take it off front line services. We had no palliative care specialty or facilities a couple of years ago. Ireland was the second worst country in Europe. In addition to the inpatient services we are developing, we also have huge investment in home care services in palliative care.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: Clearly——

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: The voluntary organisations are supported by the State.

Health Services. (5 Jun 2008)

Mary Harney: Much of the support for the voluntary organisations comes from the HSE. For example, the Blackrock Hospice is a voluntary organisation but the activity is funded by the HSE. Equally, while the HSE is not directly providing the beds itself, it is funding various hospices around the country to provide the service. In Milford, for example, which I visited on a number of occasions——