Results 261-280 of 1,073,303 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Alan Dillon OR speaker:David Cullinane OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett) in 'Committee meetings'
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
David Cullinane: I will move on to performance and outputs. When we are talking about productivity what people will measure is, obviously, what we get at the other end of the investments we make. Since 2019, there has been a 50% increase in health spending, which we all welcome. Of course, additional funding will be needed over the next number of years in areas as well. One of the measurements is waiting...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
David Cullinane: Can I hold Mr. Gloster on that point?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
David Cullinane: It does strike people as a bit bizarre that a country with a population of 5.2 million has 840,000 people on active waiting lists. That is acute waiting lists. We also have 240,000 people on community waiting lists, which do not get published. Members must submit parliamentary questions to get those responses. That is across a whole range of community services. That is a lot of people...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
David Cullinane: If can come back in-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
David Cullinane: -----I have given Mr. Gloster a lot of time.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
David Cullinane: I accept that, and I have given Mr. Gloster a good deal of time to respond. I accept that long waiting times have come down; I acknowledged that twice. I make the point again, however, that there are still many people who are either coming onto waiting lists or who are still on them. I spoke to the head of the Department of Health about this matter a number of times. I want to see more...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
David Cullinane: -----integrated waiting list management systems and getting a better bang for buck. Those are the outputs we are talking about. When we look at the big numbers of people waiting, they just do not make sense in the context of the size of our population. One of the issues that has come up in respect of expenditure is that of aids and appliances. Spending in this regard has, again, gone up...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
David Cullinane: Say that again.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: I join the Cathaoirleach in thanking Ray Mitchell for all of his work in supporting the committee and supporting Oireachtas Members generally. I wish him very well in his future endeavours. I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee and for their presentations. Does the productivity and savings task force include the area of value for money specifically? It is strange that it...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: Is Mr. Gloster looking at issues such as procurement, outsourcing and other such areas?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: It was not that clear. I have a couple of questions on the action plan from March. It was stated that the task force would be fully staffed from May. Is it the case now that the task force is fully staffed?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: And in the Department?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: How many people from the Department are on the task force?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: How often does it meet?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: There was a report out in June, I think.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: As a matter of interest, a small section of the action plan has been redacted regarding targeted savings. Why has that been redacted?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: Why did the HSE not include that as a heading? We were not looking for the detail. It seems strange that the Department redacted that. I am particularly interested in knowing the total savings. That figure has been redacted. I am interested in knowing the total savings over pay, medicines and non-paid procurement. What is the target savings figure?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: What is that figure?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: Why has that been redacted?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Róisín Shortall: Does the Department now have a total target figure for savings?