Results 681-700 of 1,182,531 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:George Lee OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Brendan Griffin OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Patricia Ryan OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Matt Carthy OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Colm Brophy OR speaker:Michael Creed OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:Jennifer Whitmore OR speaker:Norma Foley OR speaker:John McGuinness OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:David Cullinane OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú) in 'Committee meetings'

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues and Challenges relating to Cardiology: Irish Cardiac Society (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I thank Professor McAdam. I see many of the critical issues the witnesses identified are issues common to a lot of areas we are hearing about. One is the lack of comprehensive national registries. That seems to be a problem across a whole range of diseases. Do the witnesses think there would be a step-change in that if we moved to electronic medical records and digitising the health...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues and Challenges relating to Cardiology: Irish Cardiac Society (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I thank Professor McAdam. I move to diagnostics, because it is one of those areas in healthcare where the National Treatment Purchase Fund does not publish the diagnostic waiting lists or indeed community waiting lists, which it should. Very often we have to keep digging and asking parliamentary questions to get some sense of how bad they are. We know that in some cases they are not great....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues and Challenges relating to Cardiology: Irish Cardiac Society (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: There is a business case that was developed by the national heart programme around cardiac imaging.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues and Challenges relating to Cardiology: Irish Cardiac Society (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I am taking it from Dr. Murphy's response that would be more insourcing and more public availability in the public service, as opposed to outsourcing. However, the fundamental point is more capacity.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues and Challenges relating to Cardiology: Irish Cardiac Society (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I thank Dr. Murphy. Our time is limited and I have one more question to put. An issue that is coming up a lot at this committee when we have witnesses before us is the recruitment embargo that was in place and the still very limited recruitment for 2024. The witnesses' opening statement refers to "... significant workforce issues including an embargo on filling vacant positions since...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues and Challenges relating to Cardiology: Irish Cardiac Society (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: Just to let the Chair know, a health motion is being taken in the Dáil and some of us will have to leave to speak on it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: The witnesses are very welcome and I thank them for their opening statement. I ask them to clear up some confusion in this area. Anyone listening to this discussion in recent months will have seen a lot of smoke and mirrors. On the one hand, the Minister for Health has been telling us we have never had it so good with all of this recruitment that we have seen over the last number of years,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: When the Minister for Health was before the committee last week I put it to him that if he disputed the figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, SIPTU, Fórsa or any other organisation on suppressed, lost or decommissioned posts, he should provide the real number and I did not get an answer. Is the lack of an answer because the data is not being captured or does the HSE...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I accept that. Ms Connolly spoke about a lack of transparency about the data underpinning the pay and numbers strategy and the other healthcare trade unions have made a similar point. She made another important point, which should be noted, that HSE HR was directed to essentially switch off the vacancies on the SAP payroll system. If vacant posts are switched off and gone, is the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: Are these posts that were marked as vacant on the HSE's SAP payroll system?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: They have just vanished.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: Yes. I wish to come back to the concluding remarks in Fórsa's opening statement. Before I do that, another important point was made when it was said that we should not conflate new development posts with core service delivery, the replacement of staff, staff turnover, etc. From what was said, I am assuming that the Minister quite rightly is saying there is recruitment and that the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: Fórsa is asking that the Minister and the Government, or at least the HSE anyway, would negotiate with Fórsa and other healthcare trade unions on the pay and numbers strategy, which makes sense, have a workforce plan, which makes sense as well, and deal with safe staffing levels. Another observation I will make is that it is very odd and bizarre that we train so many healthcare...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: It has more than doubled.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: I thank the members of Fórsa for coming in and for the presentation. I have broad sympathy for many of the points made. I just wish to clarify a few things. Robert Watt was quoted. I was here the day he made that presentation. I can understand why the witnesses would select that quote, but he made many other substantial contributions in terms of trying to not curtail costs, and I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: I am glad the Cathaoirleach said it. One of the things I would have said, having been a member of this committee for five years, is that while I am not here as an apologist for Bernard Gloster, I found him to be a breath of fresh air to deal with as CEO of the HSE.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: That is a question. Fórsa was extremely concerned by reports last week that HSE HR has directed all vacant posts to be switched off on the SAP payroll system. That would alarm me if it is true. Do the witnesses have evidence they can give us?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: We are on the record here. That is what I am concerned about. I would like clarification of exactly what that means. How does the SAP payroll system work? Are vacancies visible? Is that what Ms Connolly is saying?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: To drill down more into that, to whom is that data available?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in the HSE: Fórsa (23 Oct 2024)

John Lahart: If we tabled a parliamentary question about vacancies in the HSE, would that be a place the HSE would go to and where it should be able to see vacancies? Ms Connolly is saying now that that data has been removed.