Results 341-360 of 1,371 for speaker:Máire Hoctor

Written Answers — Nursing Home Subventions: Nursing Home Subventions (27 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular case raised by the Deputy. The Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter...

Written Answers — Food Poverty: Food Poverty (26 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Food poverty is usually defined as an inability to obtain an adequate, nutritious diet, because of lack of money, physical difficulty in getting to and from suitable shops, lack of equipment or cooking skills, and linguistic or cultural barriers. My Department's concern is to ensure that disadvantaged groups in particular have the resources available to enable them to have a healthy and...

Written Answers — Nursing Home Subventions: Nursing Home Subventions (26 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: I propose to take Questions Nos. 170 and 171 together. Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular matter raised by the Deputy. The Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division...

Home Help Services. (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue as it provides me with an opportunity to reaffirm the Government's commitment to services for older people generally and, in particular, to the important area of the home help service, even in these times of economic uncertainty....

Schools Building Projects. (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Gabhaim buíochas leis an Teachta McGinley as ucht deis a thabhairt dom an cheist atá ardaithe aige anocht a fhreagairt. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue as it affords me the opportunity to outline the position on behalf of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, with regard to the increase in the pupil-teacher ratio at post-primary level. Notwithstanding the...

Northern Ireland Issues. (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. On 21 February 1988, Aidan McAnespie was fatally wounded by gunfire near a British army checkpoint at Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, on the Border with County Monaghan. The shooting gave rise to a great degree of public disquiet at the time. Consequently, at the request of the...

Teaching Qualifications. (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: I will reply to this matter on behalf of my colleague and Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I am glad to have this opportunity to update the House on the current position of the probation of primary teachers. As a result of the very significant increase in teaching posts that the Department has provided to primary schools in recent years, the number of applicants for...

Teaching Qualifications. (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: With regard to the 2008-09 school year, the position is that some 2,445 of a total of 2,537 teachers who registered for probation during rounds one, two and three have been deemed eligible. Of the total number of teachers, some 1,953 have been assigned to inspectors. Priority was first given to the very small number of applicants from the last school year whose probation could not be...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: The HSE will provide about 4,600 home care packages in 2008, benefiting some 11,500 people. About 8,700 people are in receipt of home care packages at any one time. Home care packages are a relatively new and innovative development and the number of packages has increased very substantially since 2005. Despite this, the demand for home care packages can still exceed the number of packages...

Written Answers — Care of the Elderly: Care of the Elderly (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: The existing requirement on the HSE, under the 1970 Health Act as amended, to make available long-term residential care is subject to the overall resources available to the HSE. The new Scheme will also incorporate a resource limit. However, establishing a dedicated and transparent funding stream for the new Scheme will have a number of benefits. The Government will have the opportunity each...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Over the past number of years, my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, has been working on a number of initiatives to enhance long-stay capacity and, by extension, to facilitate the timely discharge of patients from the acute sector. Firstly, the long-term residential care fast-track initiative, which commenced in 2007 and is continuing until 2010, aims to provide 860 new...

Written Answers — Care of the Elderly: Care of the Elderly (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Both my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, and I intend to allow a full debate on the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Bill 2008. The Minister introduced the Second Stage of the Bill in the Dáil on 13 November and it is her intention to progress the legislation through the Houses of the Oireachtas with a view to implementing the scheme in 2009. As the introduction of the scheme is...

Written Answers — Hospital Accommodation: Hospital Accommodation (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular matter raised by the Deputy. The Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter...

Written Answers — Nursing Homes: Nursing Homes (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular matter raised by the Deputy. The Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular case raised by the Deputy. The Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter...

Written Answers — Nursing Home Subventions: Nursing Home Subventions (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: I presume the Deputy is asking whether individual subvention payments will be maintained at their current level until such time as the new Nursing Homes Support Scheme, A Fair Deal, is introduced. The Nursing Home Subvention Scheme is governed by the Health (Nursing Homes) (Amendment) Act 2007. Under the Act, the maximum amount for basic subvention is €300 per week. The Act also provides...

Written Answers — Nursing Home Subventions: Nursing Home Subventions (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: I presume the Deputy is asking whether individual subvention payments will be maintained at their current level until such time as the new Nursing Homes Support Scheme, A Fair Deal, is introduced. The Nursing Home Subvention Scheme is governed by the Health (Nursing Homes) (Amendment) Act 2007. Under the Act, the maximum amount for basic subvention is €300 per week. The Act also provides...

Written Answers — Care of the Elderly: Care of the Elderly (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: The scheme referred to by the Deputy would not fall under the direct remit of my Department. However, the National Development Plan which gives effect to many of the commitments contained in 'Towards 2016' recognised older people as one of the main groups at risk from social exclusion. The supports for minimising social exclusion among older people relates to a wide range of measures in...

Written Answers — Hospital Accommodation: Hospital Accommodation (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular matter raised by the Deputy. The Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter...

Written Answers — Care of the Elderly: Care of the Elderly (25 Nov 2008)

Máire Hoctor: Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular matter raised by the Deputy. The Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have the matter...