Results 1-20 of 1,148,937 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Mairead Farrell OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Duncan Smith OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Thomas Pringle OR speaker:John McGuinness OR speaker:Róisín Shortall OR speaker:Eamon Ryan OR speaker:Kieran O'Donnell OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Darren O'Rourke OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Seán Sherlock OR speaker:Pippa Hackett OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:Gino Kenny) in 'Committee meetings'

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I welcome all the attendees. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, mentioned there are 400 fewer people in nursing homes under the fair deal scheme. That is a really welcome figure. It is the first time I have heard it. I hope that trend will continue. The Minister referenced in his opening statement the demographic changes, which are very significant in terms of population size and...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That did result in a recruitment freeze, however.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: There is a great deal of inaccurate information being thrown around on all sides. I am not saying it is inaccurate, but confusing information and claims being made from all sides in respect of this. I would not say for a moment that hospitals should be allowed to recruit as many staff; that would be ridiculous. They were allowed to do that in the past and there were serious problems as a...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That is fine and it sounds like a plausible explanation. There are claims that you have not recalibrated the numbers for safe staffing based on a reduced working week. I am not expecting the Minister to have that detail today but I would ask him to provide a note on it, specifically on the recalibration.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: There is a tendency on the Minister's part to talk about how many additional staff have been provided. That is one way of looking at it, but it is also about what the base rate was like and whether that additional staffing brings the numbers up to an acceptable level.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: It is getting the full picture through the lens of the safe staffing agreements. That is what I want.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I would just like to see the figures.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: This is heavily disputed. That is why we need to see the facts of the matter. The other point you made on efficiency and so on was to fully utilise the expensive equipment we have. There are many issues around that. I want to raise specifically the issue of radiation therapists. I have raised this umpteen times by way of parliamentary questions. It is claimed by SIPTU in particular that...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I am sorry, I did not catch that.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: When will they be appointed? That is next year.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Has that figure been agreed now?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I want to go back to the issue of outsourcing. The latter is currently rampant across the health and social care service. I am concerned that we could reach a tipping point with this. So many services, particularly in social care, are outsourced. We have got all of the private nursing homes, something like 80% of home care staff. We are increasingly outsourcing other diagnostics and...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That is fine, but the problem is that if we continue in that vein, we create a strong incentive for staff to work in the private sector instead of the public sector. The private sector becomes the place where the jobs are available. Many things need to be looked at with regard to the speed, or lack of speed, in recruitment processes, centralised recruitment in the HSE and all of that kind...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I am asking about individual, tailored budgets for the operation of each RHA, which is the eventual aim. When will that begin?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: So there is discretion.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The profile of the RHAs obviously has to be complete to do that fully.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That is happening.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister of State indicated that earlier in the year and it is very welcome. I hope other parts of the health service emulate that. Please excuse me as I have to speak in the Chamber. I am sorry.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Gino Kenny: I thank everybody for their statements thus far. I have a question for the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, regarding the additional funding this year. Will he give a breakdown on this? I am reading a breakdown of the additional funding in the press release and it gives a breakdown but the drugs task forces in the country will say that funding has been reduced, particularly in the last ten...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Gino Kenny: Does the Minister of State accept that in terms of the overall harm reduction budget and the money that is given towards task forces across the country, there has been a reduction, particularly in the last 12 years? Obviously, he is only in the position a number of months but does he accept that in 2012 more money was being allocated towards task forces than there is now?