Results 1-20 of 6,455 for (in the 'Commons debates' OR in the 'Westminster Hall debates' OR in the 'Lords debates' OR in the 'Northern Ireland Assembly debates') speaker:Mike O'Brien

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: Let me begin by joining in the general congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Staffordshire, Moorlands (Charlotte Atkins) on securing the debate on this enormously important issue. We have heard several passionate contributions to the debate—from my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Mr. Caton), my right hon. Friend the Member for Knowsley, North and Sefton, East (Mr....

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: Let me just explain what the issue is about. It is about how we can best address people's needs. I do not have a fixed view on that. I have had a couple of meetings with the NAC and I am grateful to it for coming along and putting its case for ex-gratia payments to me clearly. I am considering its case, but the issue is difficult—I shall not go into all the arguments—and I have...

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: I will happily set that out in a moment, because hon. Members will want to know how that money could be channelled if we reach agreement.

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: We need to ensure that needs are properly assessed. The Thalidomide Trust has a mechanism, and I want to assess the sort of help that its beneficiaries need. I want to work with the trust to see whether that is a good way, for our purposes and those of public funding, of assessing the needs of individuals. It may well be that it is, but we need to look in detail at how the trust assesses...

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: That would not pose an insurmountable difficulty, but let me pause there a little. The legislation being taken through the House in respect of the health budget—not the social care budget—deals with pilots and enables us to run a pilot to identify the issues. Although the circumstances of thalidomiders are, in many ways, unique, the project—if it works—need not be...

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: I referred to the hon. Gentleman's proposal and will give way to him in just a moment. We need to be able to put a scheme in place as soon as possible—in the early months of next year—and we need a clear way of discussing with the Thalidomide Trust how we will take it forward.

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: What the hon. Gentleman proposes is an excuse for not committing to anything now. Fairly soon, I want to reach an agreement to commit to something. I want to do that now, or in the coming months, not over a longer period. I do not want to leave things vague. [Interruption.] I do not want to have a party political row with the hon. Gentleman. I want to get on and find a way to resolve the...

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: If my hon. Friend will forgive me, I want to deal with the questions that have been put to me. The next question was about how circumstances can change for individuals, and whether we would look at changing circumstances as part of the project. The answer is yes, we will. The amount of funding would have to be agreed over a period of several years, and then, as circumstances changed, it would...

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: It appears that my hon. Friend wants to raise a point on that subject.

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: Which is why we need to access the Thalidomide Trust's knowledge. I hope that my officials can have constructive discussions with the NAC. I met its representatives on 16 July and 22 October, and I hope to meet them again soon for further discussions. My officials plan to visit the trust later this week, and I hope to have a further meeting with the NAC a week or so after that. The NAC has...

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: Yes. Individual budgets will come from PCT budgets, but additional assistance for the Thalidomide Trust to administer the system will not. It is clear that direct payments come from existing budgets in any event. The question for me is how we ensure that the increased health-care needs of thalidomiders are met. I accept that they need to be met. How are we to do it, and how do we ensure that...

[John Cummings in the Chair] — Thalidomide (4 Nov 2009)

Mike O'Brien: I did not catch the previous question, and I want to be sure that I can respond. Will my hon. Friend repeat it? I heard her question about the care costs of the trust; I mean the one after that.

Dentistry (Nottingham, North) (16 Oct 2009) has video

Mike O'Brien: I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on securing the debate. He takes a keen interest in the challenges faced by commissioners of primary care dental services for Nottingham. I offer him my sympathy on his tonsillectomy, which comes at a most frustrating time, and means he is not able to make as detailed a contribution to the debate as he might like, but...

Dentistry (Nottingham, North) (16 Oct 2009) has video

Mike O'Brien: I was going to come to registration, but given that my hon. Friend has raised it, let me deal with it now. There is a demand from some dentists to reintroduce registration. If we look back at the history of that, dentists when my hon. Friend and I were young did not have registration as it existed after 1990, when dentists were paid to keep a register. That practice was ended, mainly because...

Opposition Day — [17th Allotted Day]: NHS Dentistry (14 Oct 2009) has video

Mike O'Brien: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Opposition Day — [17th Allotted Day]: NHS Dentistry (14 Oct 2009) has video

Mike O'Brien: rose—

Opposition Day — [17th Allotted Day]: NHS Dentistry (14 Oct 2009) has video

Mike O'Brien: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way on that point because my hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Mr. Martlew) raised a question about how people access dentists. Before 1990, when registration payments were introduced, dentists kept lists of their patients for their own purposes. Many dentists now keep such lists and regularly write to their patients for their own purposes....

Opposition Day — [17th Allotted Day]: NHS Dentistry (14 Oct 2009) has video

Mike O'Brien: May I confirm that, as I said in my opening comments, it is our intention to pilot? I agree that it is important that we take Steele's recommendations, pilot them, see how they work, and ensure that they work effectively. In other words, we too will learn the lessons. The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point, but unfortunately it appears that the Conservative Opposition are of the view that...

Opposition Day — [17th Allotted Day]: NHS Dentistry (14 Oct 2009) has video

Mike O'Brien: Such contracts are a matter of negotiation. We cannot say to the BDA, or to any other organisation, "You've got a veto. If you don't like it, we're not going to have a contract like that." It was part of a negotiation in an attempt to get to an agreement. The hon. Gentleman is right that we need to learn lessons from how things were done in 2006 and we are intent upon doing so. There is a...

Opposition Day — [17th Allotted Day]: NHS Dentistry (14 Oct 2009) has video

Mike O'Brien: I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from "NHS dentistry" to the end of the Question and add: "welcomes Professor Steele's review report and its endorsement that the principle of local commissioning introduced by the 2006 reforms provides a firm basis on which to develop NHS dentistry; agrees with the vision set out in the review of improving incentives to support dentists in delivering...