Results 321-340 of 3,664 for speaker:Duncan Smith

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: I will direct my first questions to Mr. Ennis. I have a couple of short questions and a slightly longer one. Is Mr. Ennis aware of employers in any meat plant assisting staff in availing of alternative travel arrangements other than carpooling?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: Is Mr. Ennis aware of any employers assisting staff in accessing medical services such as GP services if they have had difficulty in doing so? Has any information been given?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: With regard to accommodation, is Mr. Ennis aware of any employers who have assisted their staff in avoiding hot-bedding to keep them safe?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: Absolutely. Mr. Ennis's answers to those short questions have backed up my worst fears with regard to employers' responsibilities towards their staff. Will Mr. Ennis explain why it is important that inspections are unannounced? It would be very helpful if he would explain that in more detail.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: Absolutely. Is Mr. Ennis getting feedback from the floor that, when it is announced that inspectors are coming, there is tidying-up and preparation?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: I thank Ms King. I am out of time.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: There are 250 veterinary and technical staff in the Department who have a regular workplace presence in meat plants, including 49 premises where there is a permanent presence. At any stage over the course of this pandemic, particularly over the past couple of months, have any of Mr. Sheahan's staff chosen not to turn up to work at a meat plant due to fears for their own safety?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: Have any the staff reported concerns to Mr. Sheahan?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: Can he quantify that in any way? Are there emails?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: Is Mr Sheahan confident the advice he gave his staff complemented the advice given to other staff working directly for the employer or through an agency in those meat plants? I ask this because even in the Leinster House complex where people have different employers or work at different grades, everyone adheres to similar public health measures because we all share the same space. We are...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: The Situation in Meat Processing Plants (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: In that case, Mr. Sheahan is satisfied that every measure has been taken by the owners of the meat plants. Given that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has a permanent presence in 49 plants, it has a greater presence in these workplaces than the HSA has. It is, therefore, the voice and presence of the State in these plants and when it says everything is okay and it is happy...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid 19: Implications of a Zero-Covid Island Policy (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: I thank all the witnesses. I find this fascinating. I am instinctively positively predisposed towards this as a concept so any questions I have will come from that. On the green zones, I know it is not mentioned but I think it is implicit that if we had a number of green zones merged together, illustrated in a newspaper or media article, that the other spaces would probably be shaded in...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid 19: Implications of a Zero-Covid Island Policy (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: As well as green zones being divided county by county, would a city be classed as an entire county? If there is a cluster in Swords in north County Dublin, would that mean that Dundrum and Dún Laoghaire would be shut down too or how would it work?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid 19: Implications of a Zero-Covid Island Policy (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: Is Dublin a county or is Fingal a county? A third of the population, more or less, lives in greater Dublin. Is County Dublin a county, or is it Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Dublin city?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid 19: Implications of a Zero-Covid Island Policy (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: Are there any examples of how testing at airports is done well that could be applied here? How would the testing, tracking and tracing regime be put on a more permanent footing? Can Professor Staines give us a view on what that would look like? Would it involve call centres, officers and people going around in cars?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid 19: Implications of a Zero-Covid Island Policy (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: To be clear, I understand how it has worked so far. Is it the intention that it would continue in that same style and structure or would it be a different style and structure going forward? That was my question. I was probably not clear enough in how I asked it.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid 19: Implications of a Zero-Covid Island Policy (13 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: I thank Professor Kearney and all the other witnesses.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: I thank the Chairman and I thank the witnesses for their submissions and for coming before the committee. During the summer, patients in private hospitals began to be charged for Covid tests. Can the witnesses confirm whether those tests are processed in labs within those private hospitals, or are they sent to labs commissioned by the HSE? If so, are those tests processed in the same...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: On getting prepared for the winter, can Mr. Reid give us any update on the winter service plan? Will primary care centres in communities be used? He may have commented on this earlier but I did not hear. In what capacity can these centres be used? Every year, there is a push for staff in the HSE, particularly front-line staff, to have the flu vaccination. Given the winter we are...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: State Response to Recent Spike in Covid-19 Cases (26 Aug 2020)

Duncan Smith: I have a final question, but I am unsure as to how much time I have left.