Results 721-740 of 1,128,383 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Eoin Ó Broin OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Réada Cronin OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Malcolm Noonan OR speaker:Richard Bruton8 OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick OR speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Barry Cowen OR speaker:Steven Matthews OR speaker:Carol Nolan OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Mattie McGrath OR speaker:Alan Farrell OR speaker:Paschal Donohoe OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:James O'Connor OR speaker:Maurice Quinlivan OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Seán Canney OR speaker:Ivana Bacik OR speaker:Pa Daly OR speaker:John McGuinness) in 'Committee meetings'

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...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

James O'Connor: I welcome all the witnesses. The Peter McVerry Trust is in the headlines for the wrong reasons, which has prompted a lot of questions that need to be answered around what merits the Charities Regulator getting involved to undertake investigative work. Under Part IV of the Charities Act 2009, the Charities Regulator has the power to appoint investigators to investigate the affairs of any...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2023 - Charities Regulatory Authority (17 Oct 2024)

James O'Connor: In how many instances has that happened? As the Peter McVerry Trust grew between 2011 and 2022, I understand that it took over nine separate charities. The trust’s remit is supposed to be housing and homelessness, but the purpose of one of those charities was the advancement of religion, which is not one of the trust’s charitable purposes. The trust is in receipt of...