Results 13,141-13,160 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: Will Deputy Higgins listen to himself?

Leaders' Questions (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: Hear, hear.

Health Service Staff (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: My Department continues to work closely with the Health Service Executive, HSE, to ensure the contingency plans put in place for both hospital and community services are operating satisfactorily and that all critical front line services continue to be delivered. It is necessary to be as innovative and flexible as possible to mitigate the impact of reduced budgets and staffing. The...

Health Service Staff (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: Not for the first time Deputy Ó Caoláin attempts to confuse the issue. The service plan was written before all the retirements had actually taken place. For him to state now that another 550 odd people will leave Dublin and north-east health services is utterly inaccurate. We have to see how many have already left from that number. As we know, 4,500 - 4,515 to be absolutely precise and...

Health Service Staff (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: Does that make the Deputy a little bombast?

Health Service Staff (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: That is right.

Health Service Staff (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: What does that make Sinn Féin? It has double standards.

Health Service Staff (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: Unlike the bombast opposite, I take responsibility. I made it my business to travel around the majority of hospitals during the latter weeks of February to ensure that contingency plans were in place and that a safe service could be continued. I am happy to report that during the course of my tour, front line personnel engaged in a major way with the clinical programmes and the SDU in...

Health Service Staff (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: We are constantly monitoring what is occurring in hospitals. We have real-time information, which we never had before. We can now predict problems and take action, which we were previously unable to do.

Primary Care Centres (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: I thank the Deputy for his question. The development of primary care, as the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, has said, is central to the Government's objective to deliver a high quality, integrated and cost-effective health system. The programme for Government states that primary care will be an immediate priority area. The development of primary care centres, through a combination of...

Primary Care Centres (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: This centre or a centre for Wicklow town is critical indeed. We have no wish for a centre that is at an advanced stage to fail. I accept what the Deputy across the Chamber is saying in terms of banks not lending and the difficulties therein. We are looking outside the box at various methods of how we might fund the primary care centres we require throughout the State. We need a large...

Primary Care Centres (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: We will always explore all options. That is part of the job of the HSE estates management. Its job is to examine all options. I have no problem giving an undertaking that all options will be examined. Obviously, until they are examined we will not give an undertaking that they will be agreed to.

Hospital Services (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: I am unaware of the comments referred to by the Deputy. I am aware that the HSE established a representative group to undertake a feasibility study on the development of a medical assessment unit in Monaghan and that this report was submitted to the Cavan and Monaghan hospital group manager in February 2012. As I stated at a committee meeting last week, I have seen the report prepared by...

Hospital Services (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: I reiterate that my Department trawled through its files today to see whether we were sent that statement, but we were not sent it or informed that its recommendations cannot be accepted or that it did not meet its terms of reference. I have not received that. The key point is we have not received the minority report we are supposed to have received. I said last week, and I reiterate today,...

Hospital Services (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: Absolutely. The Deputy opposite is well aware of the financial situation in the country and well aware of the consequences of such for the health budget. He is also well aware of the need for cost-based analysis for our actions. The volume of business in a facility must justify a medical assessment unit. The reply and the report from the initial group indicates this is not the case. The...

Hospital Services (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: -----but the fact is that we have to take responsible decisions and I have to maintain a service which is safe and this is what I am attempting to do, with tremendous co-operation from the many people who work in the health service. I take this opportunity to commend the staff for the job they are doing.

Health Insurance (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: I recently established an implementation group on universal health insurance. This group will play a central role in assisting the Government to deliver on its commitment to introduce a single tier health system, supported by universal health insurance. For too long there has been a two tier system operating in our hospitals and which has been very detrimental to those who cannot afford...

Health Insurance (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: I can make my answer very short. This group has been put together to advise how to implement universal health insurance as per the mandate given this Government by the people. Its mandate is to come back in October with a White Paper that will give a steer on how we should proceed onwards from that point. In answer to the Deputy's question, therefore, it is not open to the group to start...

Health Insurance (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: In the interests of clarity, the Deputy is right. All is not wrong, there is much that is very good about the Irish health service. What is particularly good about it are the excellent people we have working in it. It was the system within which they were working that was preventing them from delivering the sort of care at the speed and access people require. That is why we are changing...

Health Insurance (27 Mar 2012)

James Reilly: They are moving towards the same point across another line which is perpendicular and they will arrive at the point we require. If we wish to continue with this kind of mathematics we can put them through a prism that will ensure they will all join at the end point we so desire - the one the people of this country voted for and which they deserve, a system where the medical needs of people...