Results 741-760 of 1,048,393 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Kathleen Funchion OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Peter Burke OR speaker:Mick Barry) in 'Committee meetings'

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: Leave the GPs out of it; just the pharmacists.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Just the pharmacists. That option would cost more money. If we had gone further than providing the medicines for free, we would, in the first instance, have had to bring in something like age bands. I do not think that would have been appropriate. I spoke to the National Women's Council about it. The view I got back was that the way we are doing it is the right way to do it, which is to...

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I have a quick further point. Is there any sense as to what that margin might be? That is the obvious question we are going to be asked. I get what the Minister is saying. I am not interested in the GP side of it. When a woman goes to get the product, the State will pay for the cost of the product and then the margin, profit, or whatever we want to call it is paid by the person. What...

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Deputy Cullinane. This will be a matter for various pharmacists, just as it is today. A private patient going to a pharmacist today buying HRT products-----

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: So it is not free HRT

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It is free HRT, of course it is, but we cannot expect pharmacists to prescribe without a fee or a margin. They do it today.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: Who will pay the margin?

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: We have been very clear from day one that the funding is for the full cost of the medicines or devices to be covered. This is what the State is going to fund.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: If there is a charge, it is not free.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I have a question. Is it free or is it not free? Will the Minister explain because it is not coming across very clearly? The State is covering the costs of the products and the HRT.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The cost of the medicine.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: But there is a margin. Who will pay the margin and how much will it be? How much is it likely to be? Why is the State not paying the margin?

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I have the same question.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputies. It is the same question and the same answer. What we are doing is funding the costs of the medicines and the devices. What is not included is the GP visit, which is just as relevant. I know the Deputy is not asking about the GP visit but it is just as relevant because it is for a prescription. Half the country now has access to free GP care. For the other half...

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: What is the timeline involved? Is it years away?

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: It is a bit away but it is certainly part of the planning. The latest information I have is St.Vincent's, that is, the national maternity hospital, is still the preferred location for that. On Deputy Boyd Barrett's point, sometimes a spirited response is required.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: I am all for that.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I know you are. I was smiling because, like the Deputy, I speak to healthcare workers every day. He heard me repeatedly accept everything is not perfect. I am the first to admit that. We deal with it every day. We are about halfway through the journey that needs to be taken. It goes to something Deputy Healy-Rae was saying, which is that I am acutely aware the vast majority of the...

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Richard Boyd Barrett: It is not.

Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee and Remaining Stages (23 Oct 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I accept that and I am not suggesting everything is perfect. The Deputy talked of an application for a new CT scanner. That will be looked at. The capital budget is bigger than it has ever been. The Deputy did not say and may not have been told that last year and this year two new X-ray machines were funded, there is a national pelvic floor health centre in St.Michael's and additional...