Results 10,981-11,000 of 45,539 for speaker:Simon Harris

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: Yes. By way of assurance I should say that very strict protocols have been agreed in respect of both admissions to and discharges from long-term residential care facilities for the reasons Deputy Smyth mentions, namely, infection control and the need to prevent clusters from re-emerging in nursing homes that have thankfully now been Covid-19-free for a significant period of time. More than...

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I know Deputy Smyth will agree that our health service workers and their unions have been incredibly flexible where redeployment is concerned. I have never seen co-operation like what we have seen from all the unions and representative bodies during the Covid-19 crisis. That issue arises as we begin to deploy people back to where they originally came from. People want to get back to their...

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: There are two parts to that issue, namely, the people who very kindly came back from abroad to help our country and the people looking in the other direction, who were thinking of going abroad but did not do so because of the travel restrictions and the desire to help their country. I spoke to the CEO of the HSE about both groups this morning. He and I are of a mind that we need a specific...

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I am relying on my memory but my understanding is that the 60-bed block is due to be completed and hopefully operational by the end of the year; November is in my mind in that regard. There is funding agreed with the HSE to ensure that that opens. I will follow up on the 96-bed block and ask that the HSE responds to the Deputy directly but I would be eager that it does progress at least to...

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputies Feighan and Dillon. I thank Deputy Feighan for raising the issue in regard to churches. This is an issue where commonsense needs to prevail. It is an issue that myself and the Taoiseach have asked the National Public Health Emergency Team to give some consideration to at its meeting tomorrow and to provide some advice to Government before we make our decisions tomorrow as...

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for the range of questions and I will write to her on the answers I do not reach. I received a letter from Ms King of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions as well and either I have written or am about to write to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, about it. I had a meeting with representatives of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation about it as well. There seems to be...

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: Sure.

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter in the House but, in doing so, I have to take the opportunity, once again, to update the House on Covid-19, our response to it and its impact on the health service because it very much goes to the heart of how we deliver health services in the coming days, weeks and months. First, and most importantly, I want to express my sympathy to the...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I will correspond with Deputy Harkin in detail. However, while I am conscious of the time, she has raised such an important issue that I will give a brief reply now. The way the Deputy has outlined the issue is exactly how this should be viewed. This is a starting point to get these services back up and running. These people and their families have been left largely on their own due to...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I will try to answer as many of the Deputy's questions as I can in the two minutes remaining. I wish to see CervicalCheck screening back as soon as possible. Obviously, that must be done in a way that is safe for staff and women. I will meet the National Screening Service again tomorrow. It is due to provide restart dates for all four screening programmes by the end of this month. The...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I am aware of the fire in Letterkenny. I thank the Deputy for highlighting that it caused loss of PPE and aids and appliances that I am sure are crucial and important for many people. I will speak to the HSE directly through my Department to ensure that the equipment is replaced without any interruption to supply. I will confirm that in writing to the Deputy or ask that the HSE does so. ...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Fitzpatrick for the questions. My own leader, the Taoiseach, will be watching on the monitor to make sure I am not negotiating arrangements with Independents. That is certainly above my pay grade. I take very seriously the issues raised by the Deputy. We got much work done on investment in the healthcare services in Louth. I recall visiting Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I do not mean to get in any way narky, but it gets under my skin when people criticise other people for applauding front-line workers. No political tradition owns front-line workers. They are our husbands, wives, mothers, brothers, sisters and fathers. We all know them and we are all immensely proud of them. We will applaud them and stand with them. We will do a lot more than applaud...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I ask the Deputy not to tell anybody else.

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: I hope the Deputy does not believe I am being disingenuous in regard to our commitment to Sláintecare and I can assure her if a new Government is formed it will be the case that, as I have heard her say, it will be about reform alongside funding. Whichever party is in the new Government will need to show real contractual reform in terms of the consultants' contract and regional areas,...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: In fairness, last week I said in the House that the roadmap would be considered by the HSE board on Wednesday of this week, which is today. My understanding is that the board is considering the matter today. It is a fair point to say that many non-Covid activities have recommenced, and we are seeing evidence of that. The number of Covid-19 patients and vacant beds in hospitals are...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: We cannot get ahead of ourselves. A draft programme for Government has been agreed by three political parties and has to go through a process. If a Government is formed its members will be held to account by the House in terms of the implementation of the programme and questions arising from it. The Deputy still raises a fair point on the need not to return to the old way. Every time I...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: While we might not agree on everything, Deputy Kenny's sincerity and work rate on this is something I fully respect. He did a massive amount of work on this in the last Dáil and I know he will continue that in this Dáil. 4 o’clock While I might not have gone as far as he would like, the Deputy certainly helped change and influence my position by introducing me to a...

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: This is a very timely question because only today I received correspondence from the European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety about this matter and I also had calls with six or seven separate European health ministers yesterday on it. We are spending an awful lot of time at a European level, at health ministers' Councils and the like, trying to take a joint European approach to this....

Covid-19 (Health): Statements (17 Jun 2020)

Simon Harris: The reason the Deputy is not quite sure is that I asked my Department only this morning to seek an update from the HSE on the matter. It is my sense that it is being used but I want to get that confirmed by the HSE today. This is something the NHS has started using literally from today and I expect to be in a position to update the Deputy on it by tomorrow. My view on the vaccine is one...