Results 11,001-11,020 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, wanted to ensure women who were the patients would be the first to know, rather than the political system.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I ask the Deputies to listen as this is an important issue. The patients' representatives who are on the committee discussed this issue and agreed with that approach. I can get the date in December. I do not have it in front of me, but there is no hiding of information; we can get it. I understand the Minister then asked for a full report to provide the full details of the numbers...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I repeated it earlier, but it is important to restate it.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: It is a cost and management issue. One cannot simply roll something out without the agreement of GPs on how it is to be done, capacity and so on.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Yes. We have started on a road on which we intend to continue and it has been very successful to date. However, lessons do need to be learned from past decisions. It cannot be rushed in trying to move too quickly, without ensuring the costs can be met and the capacity to deliver the service. The Deputy is aware that there have been ongoing discussions between GPs and the Department of...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I put it directly to the Deputy that I do not have the answer to that question.

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: On consistency and accuracy in laboratories, I understand Dr. Scally did deal with that issue in his report. It is important to refer to it.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I am glad the Deputy asked this question because this action is one of a series of significant measures the Government is pursuing to reduce the amount of emissions coming from this country and its economy. Moneypoint, and energy generation generally, is a little different because it is in the traded sector and so does not have as direct an impact in terms of our national targets as do other...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Deputy Harty has raised many very valid questions. On Brexit, we plan to publish the heads of the legislation which is being prepared for a no-deal Brexit later on this afternoon. One of the 17 heads of that Bill addresses the single electricity market. It is not the only response required in that regard but an element of the response to the challenges we would face in respect of the...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The test for HPV should be carried out within 30 days of the sample having been given by a woman. This is the secondary test when low-grade changes are detected. The HSE is working with Quest Diagnostics, which is one of the three laboratories used by the cervical cancer screening programme, to address the situation that has been identified regarding HPV tests. Of the approximately 500,000...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Regarding the question about how much scandal the screening programme can take, it is up to this House and the Government to deal with the issues that have emerged and to ensure that we move from scandal to reassurance. This is what the Scally report and the support packages for victims of this scandal were all about and that is what the Minister for Health has been trying to do, in my view,...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: No, it was raised with the Minister in December and was subsequently raised in the CervicalCheck steering committee. It is appropriate that patients' representatives and the steering committee would be the first to hear about this and that patients themselves would hear about these issues before the Dáil hears about them.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Yes, they did. The Minister asked for and was awaiting a report in terms of the detailed numbers on this issue when it was raised yesterday and became a political issue in the Dáil. That is why we have had to respond today in the way that we have.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: I did apply that word.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: That is not what I said.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: The Deputy should not mislead the House.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: But he did not have the full details.

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Let me clarify what I said. I said that the way in which this House responds to scandals like this either adds to the scandal and the sense of uncertainty and fear that many women face or has the opposite effect. In all the decisions it has taken, all the reports for which it has asked and all the recommendations from experts for which it has looked, the Government has always focused on...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Let me reassure the House that this is not a resource issue. When I say it is a "capacity issue", I refer to the capacity in the labs. At a GP level, doctors have coped extremely well with the significant increase in the demand for smear tests and out-of-cycle smear tests offered without charge. My understanding is that the challenge has been at the lab level, and this is not about...

Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions (24 Jan 2019)

Simon Coveney: Managing a health service in any country always throws up significant challenges at different times because mistakes are made and need to be fixed. Lessons must be learned and we must constantly improve how we provide healthcare services. Those challenges are consistent across every developed country. We spend €16 billion per year on healthcare and there is a constant demand for...