Results 3,701-3,720 of 6,020 for speaker:Martin Conway

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vitamin D and Covid-19: Covit-D Consortium (23 Feb 2021)

Martin Conway: I suppose NPHET has now received that report. Has it given any commentary on it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vitamin D and Covid-19: Covit-D Consortium (23 Feb 2021)

Martin Conway: I appreciate that. Perhaps we as a committee might look at writing to NPHET to get a view of where it is on this. Clearly, the Government will take its advice from NPHET so influencing NPHET is extremely important. I have another question. It has been put to me by a couple of pharmacists, including a pharmacist I am friendly with who was a member of this committee in a previous...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vitamin D and Covid-19: Covit-D Consortium (23 Feb 2021)

Martin Conway: The general consensus is that too much exposure is bad for a person, however.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vitamin D and Covid-19: Covit-D Consortium (23 Feb 2021)

Martin Conway: Therefore, while I take on board Dr. McCartney's point that the reason levels of vitamin D have dropped is because of the lack of exposure to sun, avoiding excess exposure has been done for other beneficial health reasons around skin cancer and so on.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vitamin D and Covid-19: Covit-D Consortium (23 Feb 2021)

Martin Conway: I thank the consortium.

Seanad: Covid-19 (Aviation): Statements (26 Feb 2021)

Martin Conway: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton. She has a difficult and challenging job, as have many in the Government. The aviation industry is critical given the fact that this is an island nation. We are behind the curve of other European countries in terms of putting cash into the airline industry. Many other areas of aviation have been affected aside from just the direct airline...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (1 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: It being local enterprise week, I pay tribute to the Clare local enterprise office, LEO, under the leadership of Mr. Padraic McElwee. It has done great work, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, in supporting businesses who found they needed to change the way they did business. I encourage anybody in County Clare with a good idea to make contact with the LEO because it gives great...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage (1 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: I welcome the Minister. His is not a job anyone would envy because it is very difficult in the midst of a pandemic. We all wish him well in doing that job. This is about public health in our country and it is the reason this legislation has been brought before the House. I listened with interest to the clamour about the need for mandatory quarantine and the hysteria about it not being in...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (1 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: The fact that travellers must have a negative PCR test result, no matter where they are coming from, probably answers Senator Burke's question. On the amendment, I have great regard for my colleague, Senator Bacik, but with the greatest respect, I think the amendment is completely over the top. It is correct that the UK has mandatory quarantine measures in place. However, we are a member...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) Bill 2021: Committee and Remaining Stages (1 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: Is the Senator advocating zero----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: The Minister is most welcome to committee. I want to follow up on two questions. First, I want follow up on Deputy Shortall's question regarding information on the vaccines. The Minister worked in the private sector before going into politics. To be quite frank, the flow of information on vaccines from the Department is not acceptable. In the private sector it would not be tolerated. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: The important point is that while we are getting the figures of the numbers who have been vaccinated, we also need information on the number of doses that have been delivered to the country in the previous week, and the number of doses that are in stock that have not been issued to GPs or other facilities for administration. That is the transparency that we need. It is easy to get the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: As for my second question, we are holding this meeting online and it is working out pretty well. It never ceases to amaze me that the Minister's officials and NPHET must hold in-person briefings twice a week, while other countries are holding such briefings online. Does the Minister believe it is appropriate that NPHET would continue to hold face-to-face briefings with journalists in the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: I appreciate that because this is about leadership and setting a standard. I have no doubt whatsoever that there are strict protocols in place but when we expect the rest of the country to use every mechanism possible to work from home, stay out of buildings and not to congregate, the inability of the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, the deputy CMO and other senior officials to embrace modern...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: Finally, overall, does the Minister believe his Department has succeeded in terms of communication? In a pandemic when we are dealing with people's fears and concerns, concise, real-time communication is very important. Does he believe his Department has been up to standard when it comes to that type of communication?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: I thank the Minister.

Seanad: Local Government (Use of CCTV in Prosecution of Offences) Bill 2021: Second Stage (5 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I welcome him to the House. I salute his commitment to local government and to reforming this particular area. I also thank the Labour Party and Senator Wall for bringing this very important Bill before the House. For a long time I have said that GDPR is extremely important. The GDPR legislation was brought in for very good reasons but there...

Seanad: Seachtain na Gaeilge: Ráitis (8 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: Tá fáilte roimh an Aire sa Teach. Sadly, I am one of those people who does not have a fluency in the Irish language but that does not in any way mean I do not have the respect, love and ambition to some day be fluent or at least have a couple of words as Gaeilge. I always had an admiration and love for the language but that was compounded by a former colleague of ours in this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Public Health Measures: Update from Health Service Executive (9 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: I, too, commend the HSE and the team - Mr. Reid, Dr. Henry and others - on their clear communication. They are readily available and that is important in terms of retaining public confidence. In terms of the vaccine programme, we all know that there are issues. There were always going to be challenges and difficulties. However, I would like to focus on the healthcare portal. I would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Public Health Measures: Update from Health Service Executive (9 Mar 2021)

Martin Conway: Regarding the Irish Blood Transfusion Service nationally, these are people who are out taking donations of blood to keep the structure going. Are many of them still waiting to be vaccinated?