Results 321-340 of 1,121,786 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Niall Collins OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Willie O'Dea OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Michael Moynihan OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Eamon Ryan OR speaker:Dessie Ellis OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Stephen Donnelly OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Brendan Howlin OR speaker:Catherine Martin)

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

Stephen Donnelly: Yes.

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)

Stephen Donnelly: We could add 10,000 staff to the HSE today who would undoubtedly provide better and faster patient care – another 10,000.

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)

Stephen Donnelly: We have to hire within the funded allocation.

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...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Chair. I agree with everything he said, particularly when we look at the challenges the Government faced coming into office. As he very fairly stated, many of those challenges still exist. What we have been working on every day is to address them and to do a small number of important things, namely make it quicker for people to access a doctor, a nurse or a therapist, make it...

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

Seán Crowe: Yes.

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

Stephen Donnelly: In Tallaght University Hospital, just in the lifetime of this Government, the increase in the nursing workforce has been over 50%. There are an extra 620 nurses working in Tallaght University Hospital today who were not there four years ago. That is a vast increase, and they are doing great work. As a result of this increase, the waiting times at the hospital are falling and the surgical...

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

Seán Crowe: Deputy Gino Kenny is looking to come in online.

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

Stephen Donnelly: We do not have those figures with us.

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

Seán Crowe: We will resume. Deputy Róisín Shortall has indicated she wishes to speak.

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

Stephen Donnelly: We are going to see changes next year. The budget for next year will have a subheading for each of the six regions. We are moving to regional reporting, which is only one thing, but it is an important change in the system and in how everybody thinks about it. Work is ongoing on healthcare econometrics and what the demand is region by region. There will be adjustments over time on that....

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

Stephen Donnelly: The regional executive officers have already been given that authority. It marks a substantial shift. I will give one example to illustrate it. The Wicklow town primary care centre urgently needs therapists. During the embargo, one of the major hospitals in the same region hired quite a number of staff. Not only did the hospital have no money and no sanction to hire those staff, it was...

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

Stephen Donnelly: I am taking it very seriously. We have had several debates in the Dáil on exactly this, which I think the Deputy might have been involved in. I wrote to the Chief Medical Officer recently to ask for a full review. There are certain areas, particularly in more disadvantaged communities, where they simply do not have enough staff. There are other areas where they are well resourced....

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

Stephen Donnelly: The scheme is GP access to diagnostics. I will get the exact figure for the Deputy but I think it is approximately €46 million this year. It is very expensive. It is brand new. We started it in 2021. It is very expensive but has been very popular with GPs. To be honest, it is probably one of the reasons we see such an increase in referrals to the outpatient lists because more...

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

Stephen Donnelly: Yes.

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

Stephen Donnelly: If it is a referral from a GP, private health insurance is not needed. It is free.

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

Stephen Donnelly: Certainly, for the ones I have listed. There may be ones, cardiac CT, for example, that are not covered. I imagine there will be some tests that are not covered but the ones I have listed are.

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

Seán Crowe: On the same issue, it relates to the supplementary budget but the Minister of State spoke about additional money being put forward. It is a drop in the ocean. My local task force, which I have been a member of practically since it was established, looked for an additional €1 million-plus for the roll-out of services. That was for community engagement with young people who were at...