Results 14,021-14,040 of 21,128 for speaker:James Reilly

HSE Senior Management Remuneration (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I can assure the Deputy that the needs of patients and patient experience are to the fore of everything we are doing. That is the key issue for us. The Deputy is correct that many people who work within the service believe we are only moving the old pieces at the top again and that this will make no difference to them. It may not be easy to see when one is down on the floor working hard...

HSE Senior Management Remuneration (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: Yes.

HSE Senior Management Remuneration (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: It is in the service plan. I would prefer to under-promise and over-deliver than to do it the other way round.

HSE Senior Management Remuneration (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I would like to make the following final point, much to the mirth of our friend from Cork. The reality is that we must reform the service at the top so that structures can be put in place to allow people on the front line to deliver the service they are well capable of delivering. We must support those at ground level at the same time. This is being done through the service delivery unit,...

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: According to the latest available information, the HSE managed to achieve financial break-even within its overall Vote last year. While it was assisted in this regard by the Supplementary Estimate of €148 million, it is important to acknowledge that €58 million of this was attributable to a shortfall in the funding provided to the HSE earlier in 2011 for the pay savings arising from the...

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: To reassure the Deputy opposite, protecting the front-line services still remains a priority and everything will be done to achieve this, notwithstanding the extremely challenging financial position in which we find ourselves. I reject any notion that there has been a massaging of figures. In a previous answer, I made clear how the figures were reached. Anyone waiting on a list before...

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I thank the Deputy opposite for confirming there are fewer people on trolleys. The figures are there for people to see, and they speak for themselves. It is not good enough. I have said that.

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: We wish to go further. By the middle of the year we wish to bring in the six hour target in respect of the patient experience. The goal is that the time from when one enters an emergency department to the time one leaves or is admitted should be six hours for 95% of patients. The Deputy is absolutely correct. I have considered this issue and have had quite a number of discussions in this...

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: In response to Deputy Ó Caoláin, it is very early in the year to be working oneself up into a rage.

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: Not yet. Only ten months.

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: It will be 12 months, please God, and I can have my assessment then.

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: Equally, Deputy Ó Caoláin deliberately mishears when it suits his purpose.

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: What I stated only a few moments ago was that I had consulted and had been consulting with both of my colleagues in government a number of times. Moreover, I will continue to so do and, contrary to what the Deputy wishes to imply, this is no new development.

Health Services (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: However, the Deputy is quite right to mention Louth County Hospital because it exemplifies what is achievable in a smaller hospital and how no longer having a 24-hour emergency department does not mean one's hospital does not remain vibrant and a source of great service to its community. As the Deputy noted, approximately 1,000 cataract operations have been carried out there where none was...

Universal Health Insurance (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 17, 42 and 958 together. The Government is committed to fundamental reform of the health system. This will see the delivery of a single-tier health service, supported by universal health insurance, which will ensure equal access to care based on need, not income. The universal health insurance system will be based on the principle of social solidarity....

Universal Health Insurance (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: What would have been the nature of the increases if the Government of which his party was a part had introduced a risk equalisation scheme rather than merely bringing forward a levy so that it might continue to kick the can down the road?

Universal Health Insurance (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: As I am sure he is aware, the question is rhetorical. We are engaged with Europe in respect of matters relating to the VHI, the need for its position to be put in order by the Central Bank of Ireland and the exigencies and strictures that obtain. We will not allow a scenario to evolve whereby the urgent will continually displace the important. We have a short-term strategy to allow us to...

Universal Health Insurance (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: There are many similarities and differences between ourselves and Sinn Féin. One of the differences is that Fine Gael and Labour will deliver because they are in government. We are in a position to do what I have outlined and we will do it. We do not aspire to do what is proposed, we intend to deliver on our promise. The Deputy asked a number of extremely reasonable questions in respect...

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh gach éinne ar ais anseo inniu. I welcome everybody back after the Christmas break. I am concerned that private health insurance is becoming harder to afford, especially for older people, as insurers increasingly tailor their insurance plans towards younger, healthier customers. I am strongly committed to protecting community rating, whereby older and...

Insurance Industry (11 Jan 2012)

James Reilly: With regard to the comments made on people leaving the health insurance market, there is no doubt families trying to afford to take out insurance are feeling pressure. However, it must be stated the results of surveys which have shown that up to 700,000 people will leave the health insurance markets reflect the results of surveys undertaken in the past which showed similar figures but which...