Results 281-300 of 1,119,248 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Michael McNamara OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív5 OR speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin OR speaker:Thomas Byrne OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Joe McHugh OR speaker:Pippa Hackett OR speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Francis Noel Duffy OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh OR speaker:Noel Grealish OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:Simon Harris OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Éamon Ó Cuív15 OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh24 OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh18 OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh23 OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh29 OR speaker:Dessie Ellis OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh21 OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Bernard Durkan) in 'Committee meetings'

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: As a result of action taken.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: In terms of a reduction in the number of incidents, how will be able to monitor the extent to which potential catastrophic incidents can arise? What evidence exists which shows that the prevention of incidents is well in hand, as needs to be the case? The follow-on from that is the financial liability. How quickly will we see the effect of and be able to judge the preventative measures...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: All I will say is that this Department specialises in health. Insofar as possible, we need to prevent as many accidents or errors in procedures as possible in every way possible to ensure the money in the health budget is spent on health as opposed to legal fees. I saw something about the OPW. I have had some interaction with the OPW recently. While I cannot find it at the moment, the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: Okay. Is the expenditure normal? Has it been tested? The OPW has had a propensity to slightly exaggerate costs.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the Cathaoirleach.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: I thank the Minister, the Ministers of State and their teams. I will take up the same theme. The Minister is talking about 6,500 appointments, essentially. These are new positions between this year and what is projected for next year, yet the INMO and Fórsa are protesting today. What does the Minister say to them?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: I will move on to a few quick questions. I will briefly note the comparison of health spending in Ireland with other European countries. We are about halfway up or down the league table, depending what way you look at it. Are there any statistics available on international comparisons in regard to getting bang for the buck, outcomes and so on? I do not need the Minister to answer this now...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: Where is that available? Is it on the HSE website?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: I want to raise an issue that is good news and a matter of continuing interest. It is relevant to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who is here. One of the most interesting points the Minister mentioned in his opening statement concerns the demographic challenge, which is alarming. The statistics are really interesting. Our population is at its largest since 1850, with an increase of...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: We have one of the highest age expectancies in the European Union.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: A note on that would be worth getting. My final question is one concerning what may be the smallest sum in the Supplementary Estimate, namely, the dormant account funding of €2 million. I am interested in why the Dormant Accounts Fund was raided and for what purpose. I am being dramatic in using the word "raided". Does the Minister have a note on the specific uses of that funding?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: I am happy to wait and get a note. The Cathaoirleach might wish to move on to the next speaker.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: Is it a regular allocation?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: It is a small figure but it caught my eye. I thank Mr. Curry.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: I have a couple questions. I will walk through the Minister’s opening statement. He mentioned an additional €5 million for capital expenditure. Can he give us a flavour of what is involved?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: Yes, he mentioned that later on. He also raised some of the key drivers of the supplementary budget. The Minister said that 60% of the Supplementary Estimate is required for pay costs, excluding pension costs. He mentioned “staffing roles that had previously been provided from temporary Covid funds along with funding for staff hired in excess of funded levels of recruitment”....

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: I am trying to get at the nub of why. The Minister also mentioned “higher agency, overtime and staff allowances due to increased level of demand, especially in acute settings”. He is saying that the people who came in from the Covid funds who were working in the system are needed in the health system.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: The impression at one stage was that people were being hired willy-nilly and there was no real need for those staff. The Minister is saying that the Covid staff are needed. There was a recruitment embargo and we all get that you cannot just hire staff. However, I do not think that anyone is saying that these staff are not needed within the health system. Are there any staff that the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: We need to be much more focused on who we hire. Is that what the Minister is saying?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Seán Crowe: Again, staff are needed. We had witnesses in the committee. We heard about the radiologists. We have machines sitting there, lying idle, that would be able to be used. That is just one example, but we have been given other examples over the years related to staff. People are waiting on waiting lists. Last night disability was talked about, for instance. Some 4,000 children are waiting...