Results 17,601-17,620 of 45,622 for speaker:Simon Harris

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: The impact of the judgment on our health service will need to be considered very carefully. It has been acknowledged by many patient advocates and some of their legal teams that not all of the cases will be negligent. How one proves negligence is an issue with which many of us have been grappling. There is an important point to be made with regard to the Meenan tribunal legislation. It...

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: Yes. Once we pass the legislation. We have seen the waiver of pre-legislative scrutiny and I believe we can pass that legislation before the summer recess.

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Funchion for grouping the questions. The Deputy has made a fair point about the Meenan legislation. The Deputy has quite rightly indicated that people cannot, nor would they wish to, have two claims or go through two processes. I believe Deputy Funchion is asking me whether it is possible for a woman who had gone through the courts to have her experience documented by the...

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: I have no difficulty whatsoever in making that information available. The work we have been undertaking, which has been welcomed by patient advocates, doctors, cancer groups and others, is to now try to have a really intensive focus on the backlog. The Deputy has not said it, but it is not true to suggest that everybody has been waiting a very long time. Far too many, however, are waiting...

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: It was exactly because of the Deputy's last point that I decided to bring in a free repeat smear test. People on a TD's income and the like could have afforded to go to the doctor and pay for a repeat smear test. Some of the Deputy's constituents would not have been able to do that, however, and I was not going to allow an apartheid to exist in relation to reassurance. The circumstances of...

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Kelly for the questions. I have no knowledge that-----

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: -----Dr. Scally is working to anything other than the terms of reference. I cannot remember the date but I told Deputy Kelly in the House on a previous occasion, when he put the proposition to me, that additional laboratories had been identified which had previously been used in our screening programme but which were not, to the best of my knowledge, still in use. Dr. Scally provided me...

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: Obviously, I do not agree with the Deputy on the free repeat smear test but in the interests of time, I will not rehearse the argument we have had many times. In my opening statement, I outlined why I believed it was the appropriate action to take. I do not have any more up-to-date figures available to me now but I am checking whether we can get them. If we can do so during the debate, I...

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: It is still my intention for the HPV test to be introduced by the end of the year. We have reached an agreement with MedLab whereby it already uses the HPV test with regard to its backlog, which is an important point.

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: I ask, with the agreement of the House, that we show each other a bit of flexibility because when a major question such as this is asked I will not rush my words because it is important. I am happy to be flexible.

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: On theex gratia payment I take the Deputy's point. My position is that the scheme is very much under way and the letters of invitation issued to women yesterday. With regard to the recent court judgment I am limited in what I can say because the House should not discuss cases that are still technically before the courts. What I will say in light of the public and medical concern that has...

CervicalCheck: Statements (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: I thank the House for giving me the opportunity to provide an update on matters related to CervicalCheck. It is over a year since issues related to the CervicalCheck audit emerged. I welcome the opportunity to address a range of issues that have arisen in the past year and outline the work that is well under way in my Department, the HSE and the National Cancer Registry of Ireland to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Home Services (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: Under the terms of the current GMS contract, GPs are required to provide eligible patients with ''all proper and necessary treatment of a kind usually undertaken by a general practitioner and not requiring special skill or experience of a degree or kind which general practitioners cannot reasonably be expected to possess." There is no provision under the GMS GP contract for persons who hold a...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Brexit Issues (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: The provision of radiotherapy services to cancer patients from County Donegal at the North West Cancer Centre in Altnagelvin Area Hospital, Derry, is underpinned by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and a Service Level Agreement (SLA). A Steering Group, to provide strategic oversight of the service, and a Monitoring Group, to review performance information and to monitor the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Appointments Status (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: 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. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual. The National...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Provision (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to you directly as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Residential Institutions Redress Scheme (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: Caranua is an independent statutory body established under the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012 to utilise some €110 million in cash contributions from religious congregations to help meet the needs of persons who as children suffered abuse in residential institutions. I am advised by my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills, that Caranua ceased to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Card Applications (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ministerial Meetings (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: I can confirm my private office received this meeting request and is processing it in the normal way. A response will issue directly.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Aids and Appliances Provision (9 May 2019)

Simon Harris: As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for reply to the Deputy.