Results 21-40 of 1,078,674 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:Maurice Quinlivan OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:Holly Cairns OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Joan Collins OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Simon Harris OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Joe McHugh OR speaker:Anne Rabbitte OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Seán Canney) in 'Committee meetings'

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

Róisín Shortall: We had been getting regular briefings in the Department but we have not had any since before the summer.

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

Róisín Shortall: It would be important to organise that. I will go back to the issue of nursing numbers. I am thinking specifically about community and public health nurses, who are vital, whether it is for older people, infants or others. There are major shortages there in terms of unfilled posts. Is anything being done to address that issue? Is anything being done to take it out of the rest of nursing...

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

Róisín Shortall: It is the ultimate early intervention service. It is madness and very wrong if there are widespread vacancies. The presentation referred to facilitated access to hundreds of thousands of diagnostic scans for GP patients. Will the Minister clarify how that system works at the moment? I am hearing mixed views on it. In some cases, people are saying they can no longer go to a hospital for...

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

Róisín Shortall: Is the Minister saying that anybody who is referred for diagnostic testing by a GP is entitled to that free of charge?

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

Róisín Shortall: The point was made to me by somebody that they were going to a private provider because VHI did not reimburse if it was done in a hospital. What is the situation regarding that?

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

Róisín Shortall: Is that for any diagnostic test?

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

Róisín Shortall: Chair, can I have two minutes to discuss the drugs services? I will be very quick on this. There is a lot of concern across the board about community drugs task forces - local and regional drugs task forces. The allocation to them has more or less stayed static for several years. I think it is €4.2 million this year.

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

Róisín Shortall: I am talking about the drugs and alcohol task forces.

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

Róisín Shortall: That is for other things apart from the task forces.

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

Róisín Shortall: I am specifically asking about the task force funding.

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

Róisín Shortall: It is modest given the work of task forces which are the lynchpin in disadvantaged communities in terms of responding. It does bring together the various partners.

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

Róisín Shortall: A point I want to make about the task forces is that increasingly they are aiming to be partners in the provision of community services, whether that is family support or bringing together education partners. The task forces are facilitating a lot of that joined-up thinking and activity to have a comprehensive response in areas where drug use is very prevalent. The task forces are saying...

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

Róisín Shortall: In a tight labour market that is just hopeless.

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

Róisín Shortall: I thank the Minister of State.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Postal Services (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on the matter. I am aware of the impact that decisions relating to changes in An Post operations have on communities and individuals, in both rural and urban areas. An Post is a commercial State company with a mandate to act commercially and, as such, day-to-day operational matters, including decisions relating to the size, distribution, and...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Postal Services (15 Oct 2024)

David Stanton: I thank the Minister for his response and his candidness. I think he is getting the same response I got. "None of your business," is what they say, in so many words. They are getting a lot of money. An Post is a great organisation and I agree it is doing great things. It has done great things with e-cards and so on and was marvellous during Covid. This, however, is the one area I think...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Postal Services (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I am frightened that I might intervene in matters which we, as an Oireachtas, have given An Post a statutory responsibility to fulfil. Risking that, I might well approach the chief executive. I, too, would be interested. It is a really good company that is trusted and well managed and deals with a large volume of transactions across the State. The underlying reality, however, is that the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: I accept the Deputy's point. The option is there, and it is a matter for the developer and the residents as to whether they want to go down the route of being able to avail of a 40% grant and whichever is the most suitable technology. To be more innovative and consider other measures, my Department is drafting a new heat Bill to establish a regulatory model for district heating,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (15 Oct 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: I am not saying it is not. Rather, we need to examine whether the operation of the grant system suits this. Others who have been involved in the wider idea of district heating systems have said that the support scheme for renewable heat would have to be altered to facilitate real moves. Regardless of whoever is in government when the Bill is enacted, it will be necessary. We all accept...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Renewable Energy Generation (15 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: As I recall, the original plan for the scheme was for wood-fired systems.