Results 14,581-14,600 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar
- Questions on Promised Legislation (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: It is. That is a matter of public record, yes. I did not appoint him as anything.
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: These issues are not new. Over the past ten or 20 years, there have been any number of Ministers for Health and any number of Ministers for Justice and Equality, bearing in mind that this concerns justice rather than health legislation. Any of those Ministers could have acted on these matters. I established the patient safety office and-----
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----am head of the Government which brought in legislation providing for open disclosure. Any number of Ministers for Health or Justice and Equality could have done those things in the past. We are the ones who did it - the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act, the Legal Services Regulation Act-------
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: ------the Mediation Act and the establishment of the patient safety office. I went through the issue of open disclosure yesterday and am happy to do so again and explain it in detail. Open disclosure and duty of candour already form part of the guidelines of the Medical Council for ethical practice by doctors.
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The guidelines are not optional and doctors can be struck off for not following them. Open disclosure has been policy for all HSE staff since 2013 and staff can be disciplined for not following open disclosure. The decision we made - it is in the programme for Government in black and white - is to proceed with voluntary open disclosure for all errors and mandatory open disclosure for those...
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The Act will be commenced by June and is designed to create a culture of truth in which doctors, nurses, midwives, scientists and others feel they can make an apology without it being seen as an admission of guilt and admit a mistake without it being used against them. We need to create a culture of truth in the health service where people operate in that space. The next step is to...
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: We need to change the culture in the health service so that people change their attitudes towards these things.
- Questions on Promised Legislation (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: The decision was made on the basis that there was no conflict of interest-----
- Questions on Promised Legislation (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----and that his contract permits the director general to serve on boards if there is no conflict of interest. The relevant paragraph of the letter permitting him to join that board states that approval in principle was conveyed by the Minister for Health on 6 June 2017 on the basis that the business, Evofem, is based outside the State and is neither competitive with nor engaging in any...
- Questions on Promised Legislation (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: -----that normal director fees would be payable; and that the functions would be performed in his own time without any detriment to his work as director general of the HSE.
- Questions on Promised Legislation (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I have not seen the report but I will ask the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to respond to Deputy McDonald's question.
- Questions on Promised Legislation (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I am somewhat out of date when it comes to medicine. It is a very valid question but I would not to give an answer as I am not an expert in the area. The new test to which we are moving is more accurate.
- Questions on Promised Legislation (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: We will be among the first countries in the world to move to that test. The Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, did a detailed health technology assessment, HTA, on this and came to that conclusion. I have not had a chance to read that yet. I would invite the Deputy to examine the HIQA HTA on that which would explain all these issues.
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I do not have any knowledge of it. My understanding is that these matters relating to the regulation of foster care and child protection were assigned to Tusla from the HSE in 2014, if not before that. This is a matter that falls to the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. My Department does not have direct involvement in it but I will mention to the Minister that Deputy Connolly has...
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: Nobody in the Government, whether me personally, or anybody in this House, wants to see sick or terminally ill people dragged through the courts. Nobody wants to see prolonged legal cases going on for years. The public does not want that either. It is not in anyone's interest. It is not in the interest of taxpayers in the long run. It is not in the interest of the health service when it...
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: In Ireland we have an 80% take-up rate of cervical screening. I really hope Deputy Mary Lou McDonald is correct and that this figure will not go down. I am, however, concerned that it will and that lives may be lost as a result. It is important that we get across the message again and again that cervical screening saves lives. In the past ten years there were some 50,000 anomalies...
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: I appreciate the Deputy's initial remarks and her acknowledgement that we do need a little time, calm and some facts before we make decisions on this matter. It is the intention of the Minister for Health after the hearings this afternoon to call together the health spokespersons for the main parties to discuss with them the appropriate form of inquiry that should take place with reference...
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: We will need a scheme of redress for women whose cancer was missed and should have been detected beyond normal error and for women where there was a breach of duty to inform them of the audit results. We will need to have a scheme of redress but we will need to establish the facts before we do that. The House will be aware that Dr. Gráinne Flannelly, the clinical director of...
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: On the director general's contract of employment, his contract allows him to serve on boards if there is no conflict of interest, and with ministerial consent. There is no conflict of interest with this appointment as the company does not have a relationship with the HSE and it does not trade in Ireland. Also, the Minister in approving it was aware that Mr. O'Brien was coming to the end of...
- Leaders' Questions (2 May 2018)
Leo Varadkar: My experience, unfortunately, is that cock ups are more common than conspiracies and incompetence more common than collusion. Nonetheless, we need to restore confidence in cancer screening in Ireland and in CervicalCheck. As a result of this, there will be a statutory inquiry. We are inviting the spokespeople to meet this evening following the committee hearing this afternoon to discuss...