Results 1-20 of 1,066,523 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Darren O'Rourke OR speaker:Bernard Durkan OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:David Cullinane OR speaker:Matt Shanahan) in 'Committee meetings'

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I welcome all the witnesses. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors in relation to the pay and numbers strategy and the embargo that we just had for the best part of a year, including what we call it. We call it a recruitment embargo and the HSE wants to call it a temporary freeze. We have had all this messing for the best part of a year. What we can say for a fact is that there has been a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: Okay, I have that point-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I have that point, and it is a valid point. I want to come back to the central point that has been made by all of the witnesses here, which is the suppressing of posts. I am looking at Ms Ní Sheaghdha's own opening statement. Some 2,000 nursing and midwifery posts have effectively been abolished. For listeners, people watching and those worried about what is happening in hospitals,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I just want to be clear on the numbers. When Ms Ní Sheaghdha says 2,000 nursing and midwifery posts have effectively been abolished, were they posts advertised and funded by the HSE, or are they posts where line managers would have identified a need?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: Okay. I want to come on to SIPTU with regard to other non-nursing grades. Does SIPTU have a number as to how many of those grades would have been abolished, in effect, as well?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: What I am seeing from Mr. Ginley's opening statement is that the HSE refused to share data with any union as to how many funded and approved vacancies have been suppressed. Mr. Ginley is looking for that information but has not been given it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: I want to offer the remaining time I have to Ms Kelleher who is, we are told, a radiation therapist. Ms Kelleher might be able to give us a sense - Mr. Ginley spoke in his opening statement about equipment not being utilised and the shortage of radiation therapists - of what effect the embargo has had on her grade and on the service that her professionals and colleagues provide. I will give...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

David Cullinane: Through the Chair, I ask that if the unions are telling us they have sought data and they have not got it, maybe we can use our own offices here to request that information from the HSE regarding suppressed posts, unfilled posts and all of the information that the unions have not got. There has not been any engagement. What the witnesses are telling us is that unilateral decisions were made...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome our guests. Recruitment and retention has been an issue in recent years for nursing and all other staff. What are the main features of the difficulties that are being created there? Is it lower pay or lack of accommodation or is there some other reason that we should know about? It is absolutely essential that we have adequate staffing at all levels throughout the health service...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: A question arises. Does Ms Ní Sheaghdha believe that whatever is required should be recruited regardless of budgetary restraints?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: There has to be some level within which you operate.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: How do we compare with staffing levels in adjoining jurisdictions, for instance the UK, France or Germany? We are in the European Union. We are always extolled to comply with regulations that prevail in the European Union. How do we compare with our next-door neighbours when it comes to the payment of staff and salaries in general?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: We cannot compete with the sunshine countries in terms of climate but we should be able to compete generally in terms of salaries for staff. It is suggested, for instance, that there are 12.8 practising nurses per 1,000 head of population, which is one of the highest ratios in the European Union. I do not know whether that is true or false. Is it correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: That is debatable because it depends on who you talk to. We get criticism on that, too, and we have to try to answer the criticisms. When staff levels were increased - recruitment of 6,000 was approved and it went to 8,000 – what were the most sensitive areas to which those staff could be detailed? Were there areas that were more sensitive than others? Were there posts that need...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: Why?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: It is immediately obvious to some people within the service. There are some who claim within the service that is the way they see it. I agree with the assessment in respect of HSE staff but they have traditionally been over-employed in the health services. That is going back 20 years. There was always the reliance on agency staff and they became greater than the cause. Then those numbers...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: If I can make one last point, I agree the population has grown but so has the budget. The budget for health has grown way ahead of what the population was in 1957, for example. The population has doubled since then but the health budget has doubled as well, and trebled.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Staffing Levels in HSE: Discussion (2 Oct 2024)

Bernard Durkan: That is the argument that is put to us.

Financial Resolution No. 4: Stamp Duties (1 Oct 2024)

Eamon Ryan: 10 o’clock I thank the Deputies for their contributions. We share a common interest in changing the market here and this is why we are raising the stamp duty. There were already significant reductions in the instances of bulk buying of apartments on the market and this will further reduce that. Any ones that are going are probably an example of legacy developments. This...