Results 3,001-3,020 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Private Activity in Public Hospitals: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Okay.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Private Activity in Public Hospitals: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: That is fine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation Strategy: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I also thank the witnesses for coming before us. I hope this all works out because it is two and a half years since the report of the Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare, chaired by Deputy Shortall and upon which Deputy Durkan and I sat, was published. We are now 25% of the way into a ten-year plan. It is not Ms Magahy's fault because she had nothing to work with initially apart...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation Strategy: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I was expecting a child when I believe I may have been in the first tranche of recipients. It was said that pharmacists would not want to give injections to people but we all got over it. How will the role of the pharmacist in the community be expanded to prevent this 60% of admissions that are based on medication errors? I know I am boring everybody to tears, but some of the things that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation Strategy: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation Strategy: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: It is also the second most-trusted profession, which is important.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation Strategy: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I believe it is the veterinary profession.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation Strategy: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Dietetics has been a concern of mine for years in respect of people in nursing homes. The HSE did a great deal of work on cutting back on elemental feeds and so on. To follow on from Deputy Durkan's commentary, wound management and protein content of food is vital for older people and people with an injury, old or young. I agree with the Deputy Durkan that while hospital meals have improved...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation Strategy: Discussion (23 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I wish to refer to the citizens' assembly. I initially baulked at the idea but I am now thinking it through. As we cannot change the system overnight, the witnesses are really talking about letting people decide what their priorities are in relation to universality. For example perhaps chiropody or GP care should become universal. Is the aim of this idea to let the people decide what the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The beef data and genomics programme, BDGP, is a five-year plan that will run from 2017 to 2022, inclusive. I am a strong supporter of the programme in respect of improving the productivity and health assets of the herd. How does the Department measure its success? How can it measure the impact of breeding programmes and so on in such a short period? Will there be a next phase, and if so,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: In the conversation about the 30% reduction in emissions from agriculture, and in light of the climate emergency, it often seems to be forgotten that we need to eat high-quality food. It seems to be left out of the conversation that the end product of the agricultural sector is the food on supermarket shelves. There is an argument that the only way to reduce emissions is to cull the herd...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: If we make the herd more efficient, we can maintain the herd at the same number while still reducing emissions.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Yes. That seems to have been lost in the earlier conversations but I wanted to make the point. The Department funds Bord Bia.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Has the Department governance over the pathway of the money? Mr. Gleeson mentioned the Food Dudes programme. I am concerned about the impact on primary school children of the narrative to the effect that veganism and plant-based diets are better. Given the Department's role and its funding of Bord Bia, has it any cross-departmental collaborations with the Department of Health, or with the...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Does the Department ensure governance of the money that is sent off?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: How does Mr. Gleeson feel about the Origin Green product? This is a plan for marketing Irish food both domestically and abroad that has been brought to my attention. Organic food producers have complained to me about it. The name suggests organic food, and the Origin Green branding often sits beside organic food in international food expos. That is how Bord Bia is marketing our food....

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: What about the domestic market? Imagine a consumer who does not have much time or interest looking at a supermarket shelf. It seems unfair to organic farmers to use the phrase "Origin Green".

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: This is something on which I have received representations and I felt it was important to mention it today. I have an observation on the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. Food was 30% of household spending in the 1970s. That figure is now between 10% and 15%. Some farmers would argue that we are moving towards an economy based on cheap mass-produced food. What is the Department doing to...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Returning to the efficiency of the herd, I note that we export 90% of our agricultural products. The European Commission's report on efficiency put us in first place for dairy and fifth place for beef. The European Union is an open market at the moment. Without oversimplifying it, is it said at European level that food must be produced somewhere because we need it to stay alive, and it is...

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 30 - Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Chapter 10 - Forestry Grants (24 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Everyone is at a different starting point.