Results 7,121-7,140 of 26,402 for speaker:David Cullinane

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: Mr. Watt must answer the questions that are being put to him. This is a reasonable question. Of the 1,147 additional beds that were funded last year, how many of them will not come on stream this year? Some 200 is the figure, is it not?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: It is a bit more than that. Why could Mr. Watt not just have answered that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: Of the €150 million that was provided for enhanced community services, am I right in saying that half of that figure will go unspent?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: I am asking will half the figure go unspent?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: I want to make a comment very quickly, if I may, Cathaoirleach, as I have just 30 seconds remaining for me to speak. I have to tell the Minister that I do not have confidence that we are going to see any rapid reforms in Sláintecare and I am not at all comforted by anything that he has said today as to why any of these very good people have resigned. I do not have confidence that we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: Let us deliver it then.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: I see some progress.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: That would never happen.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: The Chair may cut me off after ten minutes. I believe there are ten minutes each for myself and Deputy Shortall. This been a long meeting. We started the meeting by trying to get answers as to why these people resigned, because these are key people. Second, we wanted to get answers as to whether we were on the right track in relation to healthcare reform. Leaving testy exchanges and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: The question then is why was the Minister surprised. I will go through some of the quotes on the public record from some of these individuals. It is more important than ever now for us to hear from these people. A standing invitation has been issued to many of the people to whom we have referred. We will have to revisit this issue next week. Returning to some of the things said on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: The Minister broadly agrees with the thrust of what she said about the slow progress.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: That is fine. I will move on to Tom Keane. He said, "the requirements for implementing this unprecedented programme [as in Sláintecare] for change are seriously lacking". Would the Minister agree with that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: Anthony O'Connor, in talking about the Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council, SIAC, said that previously its advice, whether solicited or unsolicited, had at least always been received, albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm. He continued by saying that it was clear that, "our advice is no longer required, valued or respected". He has now gone, as have several other people....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: He is also, though, expressing frustration in respect of advice being taken and implemented. Turning to Ms Roísín Molloy, one of the patient advocates, she expressed concern that the Government will implement a "diluted version" of Sláintecare. She continued by saying, "I need to know how the people that convinced me to stay, through expressing so much conviction and belief...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: She expressed concern that a "diluted version" of Sláintecare would be implemented.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: I come then to Liam Doran. He was one of the people on the advisory council. He is gone now, but he said that he was "not surprised but disappointed" regarding the new group now being set up. He went on to say that ultimately the council had been "set up to monitor and comment on the ongoing implementation of the totality of this Sláintecare report" and that "Members of the council...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: -----"who has decided to dispense with our services and set up a group which has a one item agenda [...] which is not the totality of Sláintecare and that of itself is disappointing as well". Does the Minister agree with Mr. Doran's analysis?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: It would seem then that what we have today is a situation where Laura Magahy, Tom Keane, Anthony O'Connor, Roísín Molloy and Liam Doran are all wrong. Yet what we are hearing from the Minister and from Mr. Watt, and I said this earlier, is that there is nothing to see here in respect of the fundamental concerns expressed by the people to whom I have referred. I turn to one...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: We provided and legislated for access in this regard for all children aged up to 12. We are still far away from that, however, let alone anything else. I have one last point. I ask the Minister to hold the line on public-only contracts for consultants. That is the core of this issue for me. We need a centralised referral system and an integrated waiting list management system. There are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

David Cullinane: They have asked specifically to meet the Minister. I think that at some point that request should be accepted by him in whatever form he can.