Results 16,521-16,540 of 24,567 for speaker:Róisín Shortall

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: All children are targeted for preventive measures under the school dental programme. These children are screened and referred for treatment as necessary and retain eligibility up to their 16th birthday. The Health Service Executive provides orthodontic treatment to patients based on their level of clinical need. An individual's access to orthodontic treatment is determined against a set of...

Ambulance Service (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am responding on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Reilly. The national ambulance service provides pre-hospital emergency care and emergency transport to the health service. Previously, each health board ran its own ambulance service, with little co-ordination of activities across board boundaries and no clear national leadership on pre-hospital...

Ambulance Service (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: As with the last issue, it is important to remind Members, lest they have forgotten, of the extremely difficult financial circumstances in which we are operating. I am not going to go into the reasons for that; I am sure Deputy Cowen would not want me to do so. The fact is that €750 million has been taken out of the health budget this year because of our extreme difficulties. That poses...

Medical Cards (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I, too, am very dissatisfied at the level of service being provided for the public by the HSE in respect of medical cards, especially renewals. I am engaging on an almost daily basis with the HSE to get to grips with the problem. The indications are that as a result of changes made in recent weeks, there is an improvement, but there is still some...

Medical Cards (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: There is a facility in place for cases in which a person has a terminal illness. When such applications are brought to the attention of the local health office, there will be a very fast turnaround. If there is an issue with someone not being aware of this service, we will deal with it by publicising it in a more effective way. There is a system in place and I want to be informed if it is...

Foreign Conflicts (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: I thank Deputies Simon Harris and Alex White for raising this issue. I am responding on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, who regrets he is unable to be present. The situation in Syria is one of the utmost gravity which has attracted the almost universal condemnation of the international community. It is appropriate that we should discuss this issue today....

Foreign Conflicts (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: I thank both Deputies for raising this, and for their comments. It is the Minister's strong view and the Government's firm view that the complexity of the crisis in Syria cannot in any way be used as an alibi for inaction in the face of such grave violations of international norms and humanitarian law. The Government and our international partners are absolutely determined to redouble our...

Services for People with Disabilities (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive, HSE, is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including disability services. The HSE, through its...

Services for People with Disabilities (23 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: It is not a case of using disabled people to drive efficiencies. In the case of disability services, the plan provides for a 3.7% reduction in budgets but it makes it clear that there is scope for achieving a 2% saving on efficiencies, which brings it down to a 1.7% reduction. In the current climate where everybody is under pressure in terms of budgets and is required to reduce their...

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: Deputy McGuinness really is shameless.

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: Who created the monster?

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: I would like to respond to the issues raised by Deputy Niall Collins regarding maternity services in Limerick. It has been pointed out to him in the House and in the media that the figures Dr. Gerry Burke used originally were not accurate. That has been accepted by most people and the Deputy should also be prepared to accept that the original figures were wrong. In addition, he is being...

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: Those figures were not accurate. People locally who care about the service are happy with what is being proposed.

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: The Deputy should have disclosed that when he was throwing around allegations.

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: The figure is 16 and a number of the people will be replaced. I would like to address the medical card issue. As I said on previous occasions, I am conscious of the serious difficulties that have resulted for many patients because of the centralisation of medical card services and the level of service provided in recent times has not been acceptable. A review of the services, processes and...

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: I would like an opportunity to outline the improvements that were initiated recently. The HSE has introduced a self-assessment system for all medical card holders aged over 66. The system is also being introduced for people under the age of 66 who received a medical card on the basis of means. We will have a system, therefore, under which people will be required to declare that their...

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: Did the Deputy ever hear of the troika?

Health Services: Motion (Resumed) (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: There is collective amnesia.

Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (22 Feb 2012)

Róisín Shortall: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.