Results 641-660 of 1,113,625 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:Frank Feighan OR speaker:Marc MacSharry OR speaker:Francis Noel Duffy OR speaker:Michael Creed OR speaker:Brendan Smith OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Gary Gannon OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:James Lawless OR speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire) in 'Committee meetings'

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: They are excluded in that context also. I have a close relative who is on methadone for cancer treatment.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: Can Mr. McBrien give us some examples? I represent Limerick City and we have a huge crisis in our emergency department. I would hate to think, as the witness has just explained to us, and I do not mean to downplay someone who has an addiction problem, that doctors might be taken away from a crisis intervention to prescribe methadone. Does that happen all the time?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: To be crystal clear, for us to change that and what the nurse can do we need to change the legislation.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I thank Mr. McBrien for that. I agree with Dr. Kelly's issue regarding pay tenure, career progression, workload in the profession and other workers in addiction services and some of the remuneration and perks. It is not necessarily the case for nursing but some of the people working in that sector have not had a pay rise for a number of years, ten or 11 years in some cases. As I said, I am...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: Will Dr. Kelly briefly explain how he sees independent oversight working? He also referenced that in his opening statement.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: Professor Comiskey addressed stigma and how we deal with it. What are the easy wins on that front?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I will not say what popped into my head. Just taking the piss.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: Not once or twice weekly, however. There is no benefit there.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: That was my experience. At some stage it was once weekly and if a doctor had concerns it was twice weekly. It was being used punitively.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: Dr. Kelly mentioned counselling in prisons and that there were six counsellors. Did he say there are now none?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: Is that because funding was withdrawn, it was not possible to recruit or the programme ended?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: It is pretty stark. I visited the prison in Limerick a few years ago. Eight people were crossing the yard when I was crossing to visit someone. Of those eight, seven should not have been in prison because the issue was just drugs. I grew up with most of them. It is insane.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I thank our witnesses for their opening statements. It was very interesting to listen to them. I am from Clondalkin and over the past few years, we have been lucky enough to have some very progressive community gardaí, particularly with regard to people in the throes of addiction. They see these people as people and not as a burden on society. Once that relationship changed, we could...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: That daily interaction with people, when done humanely, trickles back into the community, families and the organisations the people may be engaged with. Community policing, especially at that level, really works.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: Are conversations taking place with members of the force in relation to potential changes in drug policy? For example, if we move from decriminalising the person but not the drug, how would that affect gardaí on a daily basis? What are their thoughts on that?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I am sorry to cut across Mr. Kelly. He referred to the organisational change the Garda has to make and there could be more organisational change if some of the recommendations are carried into legislation. Does the Garda get support on that? Does it get resources to implement that change or it is doing that out of existing resources?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I thank the witnesses for the presentation. Mr. Kelly spoke about one of the projects in Limerick. There are two projects ongoing at present. The law engagement and assisted recovery, LEAR, project has been in place for a couple of years. Under LEAR, the Garda can refer people to Ana Liffey. It is working really well and I commend the gardaí and the staff of Ana Liffey who are...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: We have a progressive, forward-thinking and common-sense approach. Chief Superintendent Derek Smart is excellent at his job and inspires confidence. While we are dealing with people with addiction, we need to look at organised crime gangs which, unfortunately, operate in my city. They have a stranglehold in parts of the city. Crack cocaine did not just appear in Limerick. As I have said...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: My time is nearly up and I have to go to another meeting. The interventions the Garda has done in Limerick recently, in particular, in the Ballinacurra-Weston area, have probably prevented deaths by not having a gang war break out, probably between certain factions of the same group. The Garda has done that already in the St. Mary's Park area. That was fantastic work. There is still a...