Results 341-360 of 7,823 for speaker:Jim Daly

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Provision (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services Provision (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Select Committee on Health: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the committee on the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2019. The Bill was published on 21 November and, as Deputies are aware, concluded its passage through Second Stage in the Dáil last week. I welcome the support received in the House for the core principle of community rating, which is a long established and well-supported Government...

Select Committee on Health: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I appreciate the point the Deputy is making. I wish to seek clarification from the Deputy. Is his issue that it is prescribed in the policy that people do not have cover in a level 2 hospital or is it that it is not obvious in the policy?

Select Committee on Health: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: We are guided by the minimum benefit regulations that insurers have to meet but I will have my officials examine the issue. This is the first I have heard of it but I will have my officials examine it between now and Report Stage, at which time I will have more extensive response for the Deputy.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I thank the select committee for the opportunity to bring this Supplementary Estimate for Vote 38 before it. The total additional funding sought for 2019 is €338.1 million, €90 million of which relates to decisions made subsequent to the national service plan, including pay agreements, escalation of no-deal Brexit planning, winter planning and CervicalCheck. The balance...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I do not know why it was left until 6 o'clock yesterday evening to send the briefing to members. I suspect it was a case of, "Events, dear boy, events." Nevertheless, I take the Deputy's point on board and appreciate that it is frustrating to be given that amount of time. Particular circumstances pertained to events in the House last night and members had to return to attend the meeting at...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: The Supplementary Vote that I seek approval for today is €338.1 million in addition to what was outlined in 2019. We can keep turning the figures and presenting them in different ways but that is what I am seeking approval for. I do not want to muddy those waters. I have outlined that €115 million relates to an overspend from last year which I inherited this year and...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I reiterate that €115 million of this is an overhang from the previous year that must be factored in. If the Deputy wishes to use the figure of €456 million, he must accept that €115 million comes from 2018. I have already outlined how the sum of €90 million was allocated at the discretion of the Oireachtas, as Deputy Donnelly and I agreed. That leaves a figure...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I thank the Deputy for the question. I must clarify that I needed to make some of those broader points in response to the Deputy's points. There is an onus on me to respond. I note that the HSE manages the health service. Neither I nor the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, manages the health service. That is the HSE's responsibility. Some of the questions Deputy Donnelly is...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I thank the Chairman and Deputy Durkan for his contribution. I accept the point he made about projections and building in a bit of overhead room for contingency planning. It is a very reasonable and valid point. It could probably be calculated to a degree actuarially because it is a demand-led service. Increasing numbers of people are attending accident and emergency departments and so...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: It is a very fair, important and interesting question. The Chairman will appreciate that the answer is not simple. There is a continuous challenge to keep a healthy tension between the pull and drag in this. We cannot have an open door, with money for everything, in a demand-led service. We have to achieve a scenario such as that driven by the chief executive officer, which is to get...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: They are both very pertinent and obvious in looking at the Estimates. We can see there are two pinch points that have been identified very astutely by the Chairman. They are recognised readily. I agree with the Chairman that they need continued focus. The first is the cross-border scheme and it relates to capacity in our system. We can keep purchasing the services where there is capacity...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I think not. There are always external factors that can catch us, such as the State Claims Agency. Something like that could leave us with an overhang or well above projections but we do not anticipate the day to day or bread and butter work of the HSE in delivering services will leave an overhang with respect to the service plan. External factors such as the State Claims Agency or the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I do not reckon it would be anything in that region.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I will do the best I can. We will have the quarterly meeting with the committee next week so there may be some more extensive responses available to the Deputy at that stage and that might provide a better opportunity to put questions to the HSE and so on. The consultants and skilled staff issue is an important topic that gets a lot of attention and focus in the Department. We want to...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I appreciate that. We have to try to pull back a little bit and get the infrastructure in place. We have done so successfully with cataract operations. The numbers waiting for cataract operations have decreased significantly but we have more to do on that. The Deputy asked me about the future. Can she summarise that question again?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: The wider debate about the size of awards is part of the issue but patient safety is where the Department and the medical profession have to put their focus and drive. It will always be a case that where humans are delivering a service, there will be error. Until such a time that we reach a 100% robotic delivery of a healthcare system, there will be no scenario in which mistakes are...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: I believe personally, politically and professionally that if we always do what we always did, we will always get what we always got. If we continue to keep hiring and throwing more money at the problem, we will not fix the healthcare system and I am not suggesting the Chairman is proposing we do that. The other extreme is not to hire any more staff so there is a balance to be struck between...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2019
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (4 Dec 2019)

Jim Daly: That is understood and we are not significantly behind the curve in respect of the number of people working in the system to deliver a health service to a population of our size. It is about getting the balance right through continued recruitment and finding better ways of providing services. It is a combination of both. I take the Chairman's point. Of course, targeted recruitment will...