Results 61-80 of 23,806 for speaker:Róisín Shortall

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The fact that what the Minister is proposing in this legislation - which in the main, people agree with - has not been done in any other country means that we have to proceed with caution. The cautionary principle is that in any circumstances that involve a child, the best interests of that child have to be paramount. This does not meant that any of the other safeguards can be disregarded...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister is speaking as if all of the other safeguards can be disregarded. That is not the position. All those safeguards should remain in place but the primary consideration should be the best interests of the child. That is a long-established principle, recognised as one we should adhere to. The Minister is talking about a worst-case scenario where all the other safeguards are...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I do not want to go against what the Minister says is very strong advice. I do not know from whom the advice came but I think it is unnecessarily restrictive. The Minister has made the case himself in the points he has made, but it is just very hard to understand. I certainly hope there will not be issues that arise very soon in this regard and in regard to the availability of...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I move amendment No. 32: In page 57, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following: “Best interests of the child 52. Where, in any proceedings before any court under this Part, the court, in determining whether to make an order, shall regard the best interests of the child as the paramount consideration.”. This group of amendments concerns the issue of the best...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I do not think any of us want to go around the safeguards at all. We are addressing this because it could arise as a practical difficulty in the future, given the scarcity of appropriately qualified medical professionals. There must be thousands of people working in this country who are trained abroad, particularly in the UK. I am not aware that they have to go through registration here....

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I move amendment No. 23: In page 54, line 24, after “2007” to insert “or equivalent as approved by the AHRRA”. This amendment concerns the issue of relevant specialists, which we discussed on Committee Stage. AHR professionals have raised concerns about the fact there is a scarcity of relevant specialists in Ireland and, because of this, many patients access...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: These amendments are too restrictive. Something that may be an irreversible condition now may not be irreversible in two years’ time.

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: If the Minister sets the word "irreversible" down in primary legislation, it will exclude people. A condition that is currently irreversible may not be so in even one month's time because, as the Minister says, the pace of scientific progress is such that these things can change quite quickly. On that basis, I think this is a mistake. I do not think any of us is medically qualified to give...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Did the Minister consider doing it on a case-by-case basis?

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister has taken a reasonable approach on this. I endorse the point made by Deputy Cullinane. Speed is fine if people are in a hurry to get something but speed in addressing legislation, and especially legislation as long and very complex as this Bill, very often results in our having to revisit the issue unless adequate time is given for consideration of the provisions. Therefore, I...

Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Report and Final Stages (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I also raise concerns about these two amendments. AHR professionals have expressed serious concern about these two amendments and the removal of the term “progressive disorders” from the Bill. It is accepted that such conditions are rare. However, because of rapid advances in genetics and other fields, fertility preservation is possible. I have also been advised of several...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Chairperson Designate (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Good morning. Mr. Devane is very welcome. I will start with questions about his term of office. How long is it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Chairperson Designate (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Is this Mr. Devane's third term?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Chairperson Designate (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Okay. It is five years and then three years. Is that the limit then?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Chairperson Designate (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I thank Mr. Devane. I was just curious about the number of years. I turn now to the important issue of budgeting in the HSE and the experience last year when the organisation seemed to have been engaged in deficit budgeting. This issue was highlighted by the chair of the audit and risk committee, who subsequently resigned over the fact that some €2 billion of proposed services...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Chairperson Designate (29 May 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I would not necessarily be in the camp of people who say the HSE is overspending. I would be more of the view that the organisation is underfunded. Indeed, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council also drew attention to the fact that the funding allocated by the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform was not sufficient to take account of the significant...