Results 7,681-7,700 of 26,430 for speaker:David Cullinane

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: Yes, but which Department is responsible? What of the queries, like those from people who are stuck in Malta, for example? There are questions of whether or not you need a DCC to travel in the first place or if other forms of vaccine proof may be acceptable. Which Department is responsible for that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: Okay. I move to Ms Canavan's opening statement and some of what she said about call centres. She said: We know there have been long waiting times for many callers and the centre has not been able to meet the level of demand, which involved over 40,000 calls in the past two days and more than 34,000 calls yesterday alone. This far exceeds estimates of call centre demand based on an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: I apologise to Ms Canavan but I must stop her there. We have had Ministers say that the DCC is also being used for domestic purposes. We have had many people making queries about when they will receive their DCC but also about proof of recovery. We know that was one of the reasons the helpline was being set up, or at least it was one of the uses of the helpline. What Ms Canavan is saying...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: It would not have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that there would be very high demand. I am not putting all of this on Ms Canavan. However, the communication has been absolutely appalling. People anticipated that they would be able to make a call and get a response and that has not happened. I want to drill down into the information. Ms Canavan said that 40,000 calls were made on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: That was the number of calls made. Is Ms Canavan saying that only 2,826 calls were handled on Monday and Tuesday?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: Is there a breakdown of those figures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: That is part of the problem. We can take it for granted that 2,826 people had their calls processed and their information processed. I would imagine that there are thousands of people who did not. Would it be fair to assume that there are many people who simply did not get processed on Monday and Tuesday?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: How many staff members are working in those call centres at this point? Are they all based in Ireland or are some based outside Ireland?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: I just need the numbers because I have very little time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: I just needed the figures so I thank Mr. Tierney for that. My final question relates to a tweet that was put out by the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, on Monday. He said:"... the DCC is not essential for travelling, you can still travel on your vaccine card or a negative PCR test!" As we know, however, and as people in Malta found out, that is in fact not the case. Those people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: I accept all that, but my point is that a Minister of State said that a DCC is not essential for travel. I am simply asking if that is good advice.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: I will follow up on those points. All our questions today relate to travel, and we know the certificate will also be used for domestic purposes. Many of the details are still being finalised, but the system is to come into operation on Monday. I ask that a briefing be given to members of the health committee, if they so choose, on the matter. There will be many questions about how this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: Could I get clarification on what I mentioned earlier regarding the criteria listed on the European website? It is stated that an EU citizen vaccinated in a non-EU country should be able to request an DCC in the member state of which he or she is a citizen. Have we just not got around to it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: It is intended to do it at some point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on the Roll-out of the EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate (21 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: I thank Ms Canavan.

Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: Because the result was decided by fewer than ten votes, and given that this legislation is being rammed through without sufficient scrutiny, under Standing Order 83(3)(b) I propose that the vote be taken by other than electronic means.

Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: Like the previous speaker, I will be opposing the Bill. I suspect the Government has the numbers to get it through, however. If the Bill is to be passed, the two proposed amendments would be better than the Minister's proposal to have a sunset clause of 9 October which could then be extended further. I support the two amendments and I look forward to the proposers of these amendments...

Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: Everything Deputy Tóibín has said reinforces the need for a public inquiry into what happened in nursing homes.

Nursing Homes Support Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2021: Report and Final Stages (14 Jul 2021)

David Cullinane: I am not going down that road at all.