Results 101-120 of 11,995 for speaker:Niall Collins

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Disability Services (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: On behalf of the Minister for Health, I thank Deputy McAuliffe for raising this important matter. Addressing waiting lists is a high priority for the Government and substantial investment has been made to address waiting lists across a range of acute and community health services. A previous review of audiology services, published by the Health Service Executive in 2011 as the national...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Disability Services (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: If the Deputy passes on the details to me, I will absolutely convey them to the Minister for Health and the HSE. I will also be conveying to the Minister and the HSE the urgency the Deputy has articulated. As I outlined in my initial contribution, the HSE has partaken in a process as to how it intends to address this issue. It is at a cross-roads now in terms of coming out of a tender...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: There is no doubt that when people get through the emergency department at UHL, the care and treatment they receive up the house and in their journey through UHL in the main is very good and very high quality.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: That needs to be acknowledged and put on the record. Very often, the political narrative around UHL dismisses the very fine work that is going on there at all levels by porters, nurses, doctors, senior house officers, consultants and those at administration level. Of course, there have been some very unfortunate high-profile individual cases which have been in the news. They should never...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: I have outlined the significant investment and the significant progress that the Government has made over recent years, particularly since Fianna Fáil returned to government in 2020 by almost doubling the operational budget, increasing the workforce by well over 1,000 and increasing bed capacity. There has been a robust response. The Deputy said there has not been a robust response. I...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: Sorry, I have the floor. Sinn Féin describes the problem and provides a commentary on the problem, which is fine and we are all well able to do that. What would Sinn Féin do differently? How would it resource it differently?

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: Sinn Féin has never outlined a detailed proposal.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: It will not take An Coimisiún Pleanála two years to reach a decision on the second 96-unit block.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: The delivery time for decisions through An Coimisiún Pleanála has drastically fallen, thankfully.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: I passed UHL recently; it is a massive building site.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: There is huge investment going on there.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: A lot has been done and I accept that more needs to be done. It is incumbent on everybody to point out the positives of it as well.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: There are challenges there, but there are plenty of positives.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Housing Policy (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: As I stated at the outset, the provision of amenities and services is a core element of the plan-making process and is key to promoting the development of balanced and sustainable communities. Section 10 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 sets out mandatory objectives which must be addressed by local authorities in their development plan, including objectives for the integration of...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Overcrowding (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: I thank Deputy Quinlivan for giving me the opportunity to address the House on capacity at University Hospital Limerick and provide an update on measures that are being taken to alleviate overcrowding. Reducing emergency department overcrowding and reducing waiting lists is a priority for this Government. Many patients are still waiting too long for hospital appointments and treatments....

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Housing Policy (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I note he is raising it in conjunction with his two colleagues, who, unfortunately, are not here to partake. I recall that my Fianna Fáil colleague, the other TD in the area, Tom Brabazon, raised this issue at a Fianna Fáil party meeting recently when we were discussing the whole area of sustainable communities. In the first instance...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Third Level Fees (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: I thank Senator Harmon for raising this important issue and for the opportunity it provides to discuss the Government’s ongoing work to make further and higher education more accessible and more affordable. The Minister, Deputy Lawless, is today at an informal meeting of EU researchers in Copenhagen so unfortunately he cannot be here to discuss this topic himself. The Government...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Third Level Fees (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: I have been following and engaging in this debate for the last number of weeks, I think it is fair to say that this is just pure populism politics being playing by a lot of people in government and across the Opposition and I have no hesitation in saying that. When was there ever a budget announcement in July? The budget will be at the end of September or in October, the same as it has been...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: The Minister would like to thank Senator Stephenson for raising this important issue and for offering her the opportunity to respond. Respite is a key priority area for the Department and the HSE and we have seen significant investment in respite services. Respite services can play a crucial role in delaying and-or preventing moves into full-time residential placements, preserving the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Disability Services (17 Jul 2025)

Niall Collins: The data the Senator wants to see flow from the audit is something we can alert the HSE on. There has been steady growth in respite since 2022 with 2024 seeing a significant increase in activity with nearly 10,000 additional overnight sessions and 20,000 day sessions delivered. This coincides with an increase in funding year-on-year. Great work is being done to identify the best use of our...