Results 1-20 of 1,044,701 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Violet-Anne Wynne OR speaker:Neasa Hourigan OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien) in 'Committee meetings'
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Business of Joint Committee. (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: I welcome everyone. I propose that we go into private session for 20 minutes. There are some issues the committee needs to deal with.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: The purpose of today's meeting is for the joint committee to consider staffing levels in the HSE, specifically on the back of a letter received from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation. I am pleased to welcome from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha, general secretary, Ms Caroline Gourley, president, and Mr. Neill Dunne, INMO member. I am pleased...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: I invite Mr. Ginley to make his opening remarks on behalf of SIPTU.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: There is a problem with the clock. It is stuck on ten minutes. We are asking people to stick to seven minutes. I will let Senator Kyne finish. I am just letting other members know.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: The Senator's time is up.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: Deputy Cullinane is next.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: We can certainly follow that up. Deputy Róisín Shortall is next.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: To follow up on what was said about radiation services, the last time we had a group from the HSE and the Department before the committee, I raised the issue of a child with scoliosis who was in Crumlin hospital. The child was there a number of weeks in Crumlin hospital with the parents sharing the room with two other children because they could not get an MRI. Thankfully, the child has got...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: I call Deputy Shortall. We will have a comfort break after that.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: I will pick up on some of the points from earlier in the meeting. This discussion is a great one to have directly after the meeting we had last week, which touched on some of the issues regarding staff ceilings, which is the new phrase used in place of the word "moratoriums". There was some discussion about radiation therapists and radiotherapy more generally. I have some questions on the...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: I apologise. My question on agency staff was not in respect of radiation therapy. I am asking about the situation across the health service. I totally understand that many agency staff are covering a maternity or sick leave and are not appropriate for the conversion scheme. At the same time, there are services that are being held up by agency staff who really should be HSE staff.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: I totally accept that. From our point of view, it would be useful to understand what percentage that 900 is of the total agency staff.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: Going back to cancer care, we have discussed radiotherapy. There are significant delays at the moment, or at least concerning reports of such delays, in chemotherapy services. What is the witnesses' impression in that regard? Is the situation affected by staff ceilings or the previous moratorium, particularly in terms of capacity in day wards? I presume day wards require significant...
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: To be clear, where there were not waiting lists previously, they are now being introduced?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: Is there a figure for the percentage of the rise over the time of the moratorium?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Seán Crowe: I thank Mr. Ginley. I ask members again to turn off their mobile phones. It interferes with the broadcasting. Members and witnesses will have heard phones beeping away in the background. I invite Senator Kyne to lead us off in the questions.
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: Is there not a figure available for month-by-month expenditure as a percentage?
- Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)
Neasa Hourigan: There was a 10% increase. I return to chemotherapy delays and the issue with clinical nurse specialists. Regarding the recruitment of oncology nurses and the revision of the use of space, I presume there is specifically a requirement for the recruitment of oncology nurses. Will Ms Ní Sheaghdha outline some of the barriers arising in that regard?