Results 1,461-1,480 of 15,268 for speaker:Kathleen Lynch

Written Answers — Department of Health: Audiology Services Provision (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Funding (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: As the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, he can contact my Private Office and they will follow the matter up with the HSE.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Suicide Prevention (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Dealing with the current high levels of suicide and self-harm is a priority for this Government. Suicide prevention in Ireland up to 2014 was guided by Reach Out,the first National suicide prevention strategy. The National Office for Suicide Prevention was established in 2005 within the HSE to oversee the implementation, monitoring and coordination of the strategy. Between the years 2007...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dementia Services (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Administration (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The Health Service Executive (HSE) decided to move the processing of medical cards from local services i.e. Local Health Offices into a single centralised national service at the Primary Care Reimbursement Service Office (PCRS) from July 2011. The rationale for this decision was to ensure medical card applications are assessed in a single uniform and consistent manner, regardless of their...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Licensing (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I propose to take Questions Nos. 849 and 850 together. I am advised that there is no record of discussions between my Department or the Health Service Executive (HSE) with the Department of Defence prior to the decision to use Mefloquine/Lariam. The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), the statutory authority with responsibility for the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Palliative Care Provision (3 Nov 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.

Other Questions: National Dementia Strategy Implementation (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I agree with the Deputy. Planning, including evidence-based planning, and research are key to all of this. The combination of both the delivery of services within communities and research will give us the tools we will need to deliver what is essential. The Alzheimer Society of Ireland was the key driver in all of this and the conduit between Atlantic Philanthropies and the Government in...

Other Questions: National Dementia Strategy Implementation (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I do not believe we are disagreeing but that we need to be cautious about ensuring what we are doing and proposing are actually working. That is essential. What we are doing right now is working but it needs to be bedded in. We need to be absolutely certain that this is what we need and that it is where we need it. That is essential. Having come through the process in which it was...

Other Questions: National Dementia Strategy Implementation (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The national dementia strategy was launched in December 2014. It delivers on a commitment in the programme for Government to develop a national Alzheimer's and other dementias strategy to increase awareness, ensure early diagnosis and intervention and develop enhanced community-based services. The Department of Health and the HSE have agreed a joint initiative with Atlantic...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: In line with the programme for Government, my priority as Minister has been to modernise our mental health services and to prioritise new resources to underpin the implementation of A Vision for Change, something that should have been done when we had lots of money but was not.Despite severe financial pressures, the Government has provided additional ring-fenced mental health funding of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Perhaps there is something lacking in me but I do not understand the final part of the Deputy's question. The sum of €35 million is being provided this year. The provision for 2014 was €20 million.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The reason only €20 million was provided in 2014 was because of the significant difficulties experienced in recruitment, not only in the mental health service area but across a range of areas. We were in the lucky position of being able to recruit because we were provided with the funding to do so and because we got sanction to breach the moratorium. Unfortunately, because the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Mental Health Services Funding (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I am satisfied. I can also inform the Deputy - this has not been said publicly before - that to ensure the €35 million does not get lost in the system, it remains in the Department of Health and is only spent as required. That decision was taken to ensure we retained control of the €35 million. I can confirm to the Deputy that all that money was spent in mental health.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dental Services (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: That is not what we are saying. What we are saying is that those who will be deemed fit to have an independent practice will have mandatory registration but I do think it is important. This area is as subject to change as anything else. The issue of the proportionality of regulation is being examined in the UK and Europe. The Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dental Services (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: That is the reason there will be a new dental Bill and the council will have those powers. All the other professions that have been registered up to this point have had power under the fitness to practise area and this is a significant power. In looking at all the other regulatory bodies in respect of fitness to practise, I am not sure that each registration council needs such a body on its...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Dental Services (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Work is ongoing on the preparation of a new dental Bill. It is based on a comprehensive public consultation process which informed the key policy issues that are now shaping the drafting of the Bill. The Bill will bring about significant change in fitness to practice, regulation, registration and the constitution of the Dental Council. The legislation will provide for the regulation and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disability Diagnoses (22 Oct 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The Minister for Health does not classify specific medical illnesses or conditions as a disability. There are a number of definitions of disability that are used for particular purposes e.g. the Disability Act, Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act, Equal Status Act, Employment Equality Acts and qualifying criteria for income supports such as Domiciliary Care Allowance...