Results 41-60 of 1,161,352 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Catherine Byrne OR speaker:Josepha Madigan OR speaker:Bernard Durkan OR speaker:Jennifer Carroll MacNeill OR speaker:Peter Burke OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Patrick Costello OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:Violet-Anne Wynne OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:Seán Sherlock OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Micheál Martin OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Verona Murphy OR speaker:Mick Barry OR speaker:Martin Heydon OR speaker:Jack Chambers OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Catherine Byrne6 OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:John McGuinness OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Joan Collins OR speaker:Malcolm Noonan OR speaker:Colm Brophy OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Holly Cairns OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh OR speaker:Alan Farrell OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Ossian Smyth OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh02)
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: Beidh mise mar an chéad cainteoir eile. One issue that has annoyed me for some time, even previously in my role as a city councillor on Galway City Council, is that of agency spend. We have seen that it has gone from a spend of €350 million to €650 million in a four to five year period. If we look at that trend and the figures that we had up until August, it seems that...
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: I understand that is the aim but the reality is, when we look at the figures, they do not correspond to what the aim is.
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: If the HSE wants to reduce it then holding it steady is not equating to the aim.
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: How long does Mr. Gloster think that will take to have an impact?
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: Does Mr. Gloster think it could have an impact on this year?
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: Before quarter 3 of last year. When does Mr. Gloster expect it to be at 2019 levels or does he not see that at all?
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: For some time. I can see from the spend on the management and administration that the HSE has gone from €29 million to €86 million in those areas. One of the frustrations for people - and it is not always a frustration that is based on facts, it can be based on experience and we have heard quite powerfully from an Teachta Cannon his own experience of getting the piece of paper...
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: Mr. Gloster stated that he had a staff of approximately 166,000. There is considerable frustration about agency spend in general, particularly given that there are many people who want to get good jobs in the HSE. This expenditure on agency and management and administration basically represents a trebling of the previous amount. Why has it increased to this level in such a short period?
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: But this is €86 million.
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: Covid was an exceptional time,-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: -----but we are discussing a large amount of spending. I understand that the HSE has an aim, but it does not seem that the aim and what the HSE is doing correlate at all. The Minister created a productivity and savings task force, which set a target of reduced spending. Who sits on that task force?
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: For me, the main question is who sits on that task force. At yesterday’s health committee meeting, Fórsa stated that there was also a representative of the consultancy firms sitting on it. Is that correct?
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: Does that not beggar belief? Would the consultancy firm in question – I do not need to know which one it is – have benefited from agency spend in terms of management fees?
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: Surely that is the crux of the issue. If the productivity and savings task force is meant to reduce agency spend, does Ms McGirr not believe that it is a bit of a-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: But this is the particular issue I-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: I understand having external assistance.
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: We mentioned an external element while discussing procurement issues, but in most people’s heads, “external” means “independent”, in that there would be an independent external body examining matters. This raises a concern about-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: I am not interested in those specifics.
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: I understand that is the concept-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023: Health Service Executive (24 Oct 2024)
Mairead Farrell: Yes, but we are also seeing an increase in agency spend.