Results 141-160 of 1,124,874 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Patrick Costello OR speaker:John Lahart OR speaker:Brendan Smith OR speaker:Fergus O'Dowd OR speaker:Mattie McGrath OR speaker:Michael Moynihan OR speaker:Seán Sherlock OR speaker:Thomas Gould OR speaker:Catherine Connolly OR speaker:Gerald Nash OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:Patricia Ryan OR speaker:Marian Harkin OR speaker:Alan Farrell OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:Joe O'Brien OR speaker:Eamon Ryan OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Seán Ó Fearghaíl OR speaker:Gino Kenny OR speaker:Richard Bruton6 OR speaker:Catherine Martin OR speaker:Joe McHugh OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Seán Ó Fearghaíl1 OR speaker:John Brady OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae) in 'Committee meetings'

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That is good. I thank Ms Broderick for that. The other two areas of accountability obviously relate to the two areas identified in Mr. Justice Frank Clarke's report, one of which was the completely inadequate capacity within the mid-west region in terms of emergency department, ED, capacity. That has to be a matter of political accountability. One does have to wonder about the original...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The recommendation was that the other three EDs should not close until we had reached a level beyond 600 beds in UHL. That has been the problem, notwithstanding recent improvements as regards the number of beds. That is a fundamental point. Those three emergency departments should not have been closed. It is quite clear that was the original intention. I have been raising the issue for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I am sorry; the action was that the Minister would open a second ED. He would designate one of the other hospitals as a level 3 hospital and have an ED.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Why did the Minister not act on the recommendation two and a half years ago?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: It was a separate point that HIQA made, which was that there was a need for a level 3 hospital and a second ED.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: It was not a matter of all of the numbers. There was a separate point that HIQA made. I have to ask the Minister-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Can I finish this last point?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: There is a serious issue of geography here. Does the Minister think it is acceptable that someone in need of medical treatment in, for example, Loop Head in County Clare or in Latteragh in County Tipperary, must not only drive past a hospital, but will also have a greater chance of dying if they have a major medical emergency because UHL is so overstretched and overcrowded? There is a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to University Hospital Limerick: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister did promise 24-hour opening-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I thank the witnesses for attending. When I originally got into politics, I was not a big fan of AHBs. I believed they were doing the work local authorities should be doing. I just could not get my head around it. However, they do some fabulous work and I cannot understand why local authorities are unable to deliver what AHBs can. That might be down to funding or a number of other...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Ms Anderson mentioned that the rent calculation was based on a length of time. Is that 20, 30 or 40 years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Could a longer period be considered to help reduce costs? There are people who do not qualify for social housing, cannot buy a house and cannot pay market rents. Many people are living in box bedrooms. There is an entire box bedroom generation. Maybe we need to tease out the question of the period more. Deputy Ó Broin will probably do so. Capacity is another issue. We could do...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: We know that there is definitely a need. A cost-rental scheme in Glanmire in Cork ran out of houses. I am not 100% sure about the figures, but I believe there were 1,200 applications for 36 properties.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Ms Anderson touched on the standard of cost-rental accommodation. In Cork, it is of a very high quality and being managed properly. It is a place people want to live. I spoke to two young women who were sharing a property on Lancaster Quay. One worked in the hospital and the other worked in the city council. They were really positive about the accommodation. They spoke about a community...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I apologise, I am going to have to leave after this. Something struck me when Ms Cleary was speaking about older people and pensioners. We see pensioners who are homeless, which was probably something we never saw previously in the lifetime of this State. There are 224 now, and the number is creeping up slowly. I imagine that the vast majority of people who avail of cost-rental properties...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I appreciate that. What happens to that lady I mentioned who is on €42,000 who does not qualify for HAP because she is over the threshold? Many people have to pay a lot of extra money over the HAP amount in order to get rental properties. Will HAP be sufficient in order that there will not be pensioners who are struggling? Will it be enough for pensioners to still be able to afford...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I had not thought of what Ms Hennigan said about people who lose their incomes for different reasons, namely losing their jobs or on foot of health issues. It is important that work is being done, so that is good to hear. We are looking at cost rental long term. People are saying we need to develop the Irish mentality to cost rental, and all those things need to be considered. One of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: I wanted the witnesses to say that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government: Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No.2) Bill 2024: Discussion (10 Oct 2024)

Thomas Gould: Even if we were to take the human side out of it, Mr. O'Gorman has made the point about the consequences of having cold and damp houses with mould in them. I have people now whose clothes in their wardrobes are mouldy. The ends of their beds are getting damp because they are up against the wall. The human cost of this is great, but so is the financial cost. When there is a chance to do...