Results 181-200 of 309 for speaker:Keith Swanick

Seanad: Life Saving Equipment Bill 2017: Second Stage (23 Jan 2018)

Keith Swanick: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, and all the Senators for their contributions. I am delighted with the support I have received from around the House. This Bill needs to be enacted. It is the result of Members thinking of our volunteers, the people who put their lives at risk for others.I take on board the sentiments expressed by the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton,...

Seanad: Life Saving Equipment Bill 2017: Second Stage (23 Jan 2018)

Keith Swanick: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members (31 Jan 2018)

Keith Swanick: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I will be very brief. The issue I raise impacts on a small number of local authority members - it impacts on them nonetheless -and clarity in respect to the guidelines would be very much appreciated. Under the section on personal leave, Department Circular 0032/2007 states that those who are members of public bodies, for example,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Local Authority Members (31 Jan 2018)

Keith Swanick: I thank the Minister of State for her response and appreciate what she is saying about bringing the issue of substitution cover for local authority members when they are attending meetings to the Teachers Conciliation Council. Our local authority members have increasing workloads, however, and the Department needs to deal with this issue.I urge the Minister of State to bring this matter back...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 Jan 2018)

Keith Swanick: I want to express my concerns at the chronic underfunding of the Michael Davitt Museum in Straide, County Mayo. The museum is housed in a magnificently restored pre-penal laws church in the village of Straide between Castlebar and Foxford. What makes the museum unique is that Michael Davitt was christened in the church in 1846 and is buried in the grounds of the 13th-century Straide Abbey...

Seanad: Emergency Department Waiting Times: Statements (31 Jan 2018)

Keith Swanick: Yes, I wish to share time with Senator Gallagher.

Seanad: Emergency Department Waiting Times: Statements (31 Jan 2018)

Keith Swanick: I will take six minutes and Senator Gallagher will have two.

Seanad: Emergency Department Waiting Times: Statements (31 Jan 2018)

Keith Swanick: It is timely we are having these statements on emergency department waiting times given that our health system hit a new low on Monday last. The Euro Health Consumer Index 2017, on which I understand people place different weight, ranked Ireland among the worst in Europe for waiting times for health care. Ireland is now in 24th place, down two since last year's index. The mismanagement of...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Long Stay Residential Units (14 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: I have asked the Minister of State here today to discuss the planned closure of the Rosalie unit in my home town of Castlerea, County Roscommon. A public meeting about the threatened closure of this health facility took place on 8 February. To say that family members of the residents are upset would be an understatement. The unit was previously threatened with closure in 2015 but,...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Long Stay Residential Units (14 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: The Minister of State mentioned the 2006 policy document, A Vision for Change. He also mentioned that a move away from the traditional institution-based model of care is in train. This is not an institution. This is the residents' home. I have worked in St. Ita's Hospital and I have worked in psychiatry. I have worked in different units all over the country. This is the patients' home....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Long Stay Residential Units (14 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: Despite everything else.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Long Stay Residential Units (14 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: It was taken to silence the advocates for the patients. That is why it was taken.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Long Stay Residential Units (14 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: I would be delighted to meet the Minister of State that day.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Long Stay Residential Units (14 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: That was convenient at the time.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: I wish to raise the topic of the charity sector. We saw the alarming situation in Oxfam UK where the chief of operations in Haiti, Ronald Van Hauwermeiren, was relocated to Bangladesh after the natural disaster for admitting to having prostitutes in an Oxfam sponsored home in Haiti. That is a violation that occurs every day of the week but in the aftermath of a disaster, it is totally...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: I congratulate Senator Ó Clochartaigh on his new role and wish him the very best in the future and go n-éirí an t-ádh leat. Senators will recall that last October I asked that a debate be organised about the issue of loneliness and social isolation in Ireland which are some of the greatest public health risks today. In December I formally requested the Government to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: I welcome all the witnesses to the meeting. I welcome the recent media coverage on infertility. I refer to the advertisements on television and I think that raises public awareness of the whole issue. I agree this is a complex issue because medicine is moving fast in this very sensitive area. I concur with my colleague Deputy Murphy O'Mahony. I am a GP. I listened to the contributions...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2018)

Keith Swanick: I will be brief. I am concerned about couples, who are very vulnerable and would like to make their IVF treatment journey as seamless as possible when they are embarking on an IVF cycle, having regard to the sensitivity about that treatment. I have heard anecdotally from many couples that clinics vary in this regard. With regard to the sharing of information with couples, and this probably...

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Mar 2018)

Keith Swanick: The scale of community spirit or meitheal was evident throughout the recent storm and is still much in evidence. To the Garda, ambulance service, fire service, Defence Forces and other front-line staff rightly received much praise but an entire army of other people, who I would describe as good neighbours and great citizens, also deserves praise. Many people were left on their own, cut off...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Services (21 Mar 2018)

Keith Swanick: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to take this matter. Two operating theatres in Merlin Park University Hospital, Galway were shut on health and safety grounds last September when significant leaks in the roof were discovered. Repair works were completed on 1 November and yet, more than three months later, the theatres are still not open. An independent clinical...