Results 281-300 of 1,052,261 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Kate O'Connell OR speaker:Marc MacSharry OR speaker:Neasa Hourigan OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Micheál Martin) in 'Committee meetings'
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: My question is not so much about the time it takes to do it. I presume there are more than 500 staff in this position.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: That is for the Department to answer, then.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: That is very clear. Will the Department respond to that point? Will it also respond as regards its position on the conversion of agency staff?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: The Department of Health is identifying particular posts that have a high cost----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: But units that have a high-----
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: We have gone far beyond stepping in for maternity leave or stepping in for sick leave.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: We are now in a position where we have people who have been going in and out to work for maybe 18 months, they are fully integrated into the team and they are still on the agency's books.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: Okay. Is that tracked into the Department's decision making? Is the Department making a commitment to an ongoing addressing of the issue of converting agency staff to full-time health service staff?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: Maybe Ms Kenna can speak to this. Some 500 is great but we are probably talking about thousands at this rate. Is there a recognition and a commitment that this is an ongoing process?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: What would be the highest level of agency use that Ms Kenna has come across in a particular department?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: Wow. There was 56% reliance on agency staff.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: So that is 900 total?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: In the push for productivity and savings which, again, we all support, I would not like to see a slippage in the standards of the working life and workers' rights within the HSE. I noticed that when we removed the recruitment ban, the IMO made comments about the staff ceiling and asked if that was a proxy for a recruitment ban. I thought a lot about the fact that so many non-consultant...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: I ask the Department to respond.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Seán Crowe: I will bring in Deputy Gino Kenny, after which we will have a comfort break for five minutes.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Seán Crowe: I thank Mr. Gloster. We will take Senator Maria Byrne when we return just after a comfort break.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Seán Crowe: We spoke about productivity and savings. Mr. Gloster mentioned occupational therapists, OTs. Recently, I dealt with a case of an 83-year-old man who is trying to get access to a wheelchair. He needs a referral from an OT. He received a letter stating it will take two years or more to see the OT. He was then given a leaflet about the private purchase of equipment such as rails and...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Seán Crowe: Again, there was a lot of coverage in the papers regarding children, particularly those with scoliosis and orthopaedic issues. There was a family in touch with me who were a number of weeks in Crumlin hospital waiting on an MRI. There were other supports needed in order to take that MRI, but they were there for weeks. You would think it should not take weeks to get an MRI. I am conscious...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Seán Crowe: Mr. McCallion might touch on the virtual ward system. I think many people get it, particularly as it relates to those specialties. The big concern would be if the person develops complications. Will Mr. McCallion speak to that?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Productivity and Savings Task Force: Discussion (18 Sep 2024)
Seán Crowe: There is one other area. We have talked about it before, and it relates to Pathfinder. I think we all got that it keeps elderly people in particular out of emergency departments. It made more than 10,000 call outs between January and April of this year alone. It makes sense in the context of the number of acute beds and so on. I submitted a parliamentary question in May and was informed...