Results 221-240 of 1,061,225 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:Brendan Howlin)
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (3 Oct 2024)
Aengus Ó Snodaigh: Bogfaidh muid ar aghaidh go dtí an chéad ceist eile as na Teachtaí atá i láthair, is í sin Ceist Uimh. 11 in ainm an Teachta Duncan Smith.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pharmacy Services (3 Oct 2024)
Pharmacy Services
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pharmacy Services (3 Oct 2024)
Duncan Smith: 11. To ask the Minister for Health to provide an update on negotiations to increase fees for dispensing for pharmacists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39357/24]
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pharmacy Services (3 Oct 2024)
Duncan Smith: There are ongoing negotiations on fees for pharmacy dispensing. In the context of the budget and the recent announcement, I am seeking an update on those negotiations and where they are going.
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pharmacy Services (3 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his ongoing advocacy and work in this area. The budget contained very good news for progress in this area. I have allocated full-year funding of €50 million for these negotiations. There would be €25 million available next year on an assumed commencement date of, let us say, July 2025. There is, however, full-year allocation of €50 million. The...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pharmacy Services (3 Oct 2024)
Duncan Smith: I agree with the Minister that pharmacists are all of those things. I am sure he will agree that they are also highly trusted in the community. The great potential of unlocking more community care that is in situ and close to where people live is an aim of both the Minister and me. The funding allocation is welcome but now the negotiation fee must be addressed. Before the financial...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pharmacy Services (3 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: It would not be helpful to set out the State’s negotiating position. What I have said to the IPU and my officials is that everything is on the table. The Government has put €50 million on the table this week, which is a sizeable amount. Of course, the IPU will say it is not enough and will want more. It is a sizeable amount, however. Everything can be discussed in the round...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Pharmacy Services (3 Oct 2024)
Duncan Smith: A lot of the discussion among pharmacists concerns the volume of administration and paper-based work they must do. We had a debate last week – I brought this issue up in my budget discussions - about the move towards electronic health records and, more generally, towards an e-health model. We need to see that in the pharmacy sector as well. Pharmacists operate in a private retail...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medical Cards (3 Oct 2024)
James O'Connor: I see the point the Minister is making. It does not necessarily mean I wholeheartedly agree with it, but he is right to outline that. We do this best on the basis of age. I acknowledge the Department with its enormous resources has to prioritise what it feels is in the best interests of caring for the needs of our population around this expenditure and providing the best access to...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medical Cards (3 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: I will make two points. The first is on the discretionary cards. One in eight medical cards is discretionary, and that is meant to speak to exactly the kinds of cases the Deputy talks about. The discretionary medical card is issued to patients with big medical expenses. They might satisfy the gross income criterion but not the net income criterion. Once they have to pay all these medical...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medical Cards (3 Oct 2024)
James O'Connor: I know I have raised this with the Minister previously, but in that specific area around Rathcormack and in north Cork generally, people accessing healthcare services has been a huge difficulty and a huge challenge. In particular, I think of the town of Mitchelstown. I have raised here many times cases of a concentration of the healthcare resources in a primary care centre that is privately...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medical Cards (3 Oct 2024)
Bernard Durkan: I strongly support the sentiments expressed by the Deputy. This applies not only to north Cork but all over the country and has been raised numerous times in the health committee over recent years. The Minister himself has identified the word "discretion". The request has to be that the criteria need to be broadened to take into account the fact, as described by Deputy O'Connor and as we...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medical Cards (3 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: Our clear goal is universal healthcare. One of the three pillars of universal healthcare is that it is affordable, so a lot of what we are doing is trying to make sure that people can access care quickly, that it is great care when they get it and that they can afford it. Any debate like this is very important to constantly reviewing and finding those patients who find themselves outside of...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (3 Oct 2024)
Health Services
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (3 Oct 2024)
Bernard Durkan: 9. To ask the Minister for Health to indicate the treatment pathways available for patients who suffer from scoliosis, cataracts and spina bifida, public or private, to help deal with the current backlogs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39443/24]
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (3 Oct 2024)
Bernard Durkan: This is a similar question. It seeks reassurance for patients who suffer from various illnesses, from scoliosis to cataracts, to spina bifida. Whether they are public or private patients, their concern is for access to treatment within a reasonable time. Do we have the facilities to treat them within this jurisdiction? My belief is that we do. Whether they are public or private, can the...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (3 Oct 2024)
Stephen Donnelly: We could do an entire Dáil statement and debate on this issue, so I thank the Deputy for raising it. The Deputy has raised several areas: cataract services, orthopaedic services, spinal care and more. As I just said, our goal is universal healthcare. One of the pillars is affordability, which we just discussed, and another is rapid access. A huge amount of what we have been doing...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (3 Oct 2024)
Bernard Durkan: The Minister's reply shows an intimate knowledge of the system and its flaws and weaknesses and so on, which we all accept. We have to strive towards universal healthcare. However, it is no good telling that to the patient who has to wait, whether it is scoliosis or whatever else. I had spinal surgery during the summer. It was not possible for somebody to say to me, "We are working...
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mental Health Services (3 Oct 2024)
Mental Health Services
- Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Mental Health Services (3 Oct 2024)
Mark Ward: 7. To ask the Minister for Health if he can guarantee when inpatient residential dual diagnosis services will resume in a treatment centre, details supplied; the reason for the delay in reopening these services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39162/24]