Results 21,481-21,500 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin
- Written Answers — Department of Public Expenditure and Reform: Departmental Funding (4 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: Benefacts is a new social enterprise that will enhance the visibility, accountability and transparency of the not-for-profit sector. This initiative is co-funded by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, Atlantic Philanthropies and The American Ireland Funds. enefacts will pilot a service that will provide a single repository of regulatory data on the entire not-for-profit sector....
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: I thank the Deputy for raising three discrete and separate issues. I will not have time to go into them in any great detail. Each has to be considered individually. For some time the Government has been examining emergency departments in hospitals as a priority. That is why last December the Minister for Health and I discussed how to resource them and ensure there would be adequate...
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: Our responsibility as a national Parliament, and the specific responsibility of the national Government, is to ensure we have resources and staffing in place to deal with the health needs of our people.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: In preparing for this winter, that is what we have been trying to do, not just this week but from the end of last year. Resources have been deployed and we took the advice of the task force on how we could relieve pressure on accident and emergency units. It advised us to provide more resources for the fair deal scheme and we provided €44 million in additional money for that this...
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: We have 700 net additional nurses.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: Is 700 additional nurses not enough?
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: What is enough? We need to have a debate on this. I know the normal, default position of Opposition is to say that, whatever there is, it is not enough and the Government must provide more. We must also have a grown-up debate in this House on how we deploy resources effectively and maybe one day we will. At the beginning of this year I asked each sectoral committee, including the health...
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: We spend more money on our health services than the OECD average, though our health demographics are poorer.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: Deputy Calleary is right - that should not happen.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: It is no use running with a statement like that. We are interested in analysing the problems and providing solutions, as we have done in respect of every serious challenge we have faced.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: Is this a question?
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy wants to look back five years and judge us on our performance over those five years.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: The Irish people have not been asked yet and I would not be so arrogant as to pre-empt what the judgment of the Irish people will be.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: The Deputy can, like de Valera, look into his heart and know the will of the Irish people. Let me be honest and clear with the Deputy. If we had followed his prescription five years ago we would have had a collapsed health service by the end of 2011. We would have bankrupted the country and there would be no pay for nurses or doctors, never mind talking about increases. Let us talk some...
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: Medical and dental staff have seen increases of 10.5% since the beginning of last year. The number of medical and dental staff is now higher than the pre-crisis peak of 2007. We have now more dental and medical staff than we had when Mary Harney said we were awash with money.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: This is despite navigating this country through the worst economic crisis in our history. The additionality to which I referred is €135 million. Most people listening to this debate will feel their hearts scalded by the two actual cases which have been referred to today. Regarding the very sad case of Mr. Dualtagh Donnelly, as I have said, the advance paramedic in a rapid-response...
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: This emergency vehicle arrived in 23 minutes.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: That is the information I have. All these can be validated and checked. Let us wait for objective fact before we jump to judgment.
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: Let me give the full fact because, obviously, before coming in here I asked. There were eight emergency ambulances and two rapid-response vehicles operating in the north-east area on the night of this dreadful accident. The normal complement for the night is ten ambulances and two rapid-response vehicles. The reduction in capacity was due to short-notice absences on the night which I...
- Leaders' Questions (5 Nov 2015)
Brendan Howlin: Let me be crystal clear. Health policy has been an absolute priority for the Government. The protection of health expenditure-----