Results 821-840 of 1,253 for speaker:John Crown

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 28: In page 14, line 6, after “prescribed” to insert “by the Minister by regulation”.The amendment addresses a technical issue, with a view to making it more difficult for the Minister to be challenged. Rather than providing that the colour of the lining of a packet can be prescribed, the amendment provides that it must be done by the Minister...

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

John Crown: Comhghairdeas leis an Aire. This is a very important initiative which will have a real and measurable effect by making people stop and think about why they continue to smoke. Every time a major anti-tobacco initiative occurs, it makes people stop and think. People who might have wondered if they should consider giving it up again take up the cudgel of attempting to cease this terrible...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Provision of Epinephrine Auto-Injectors: Discussion (24 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I offer my condolences to and express unbelievable admiration for Ms Sloan on her terrible loss and on her courage. I once saw a 16 year old girl die from an anaphylactic reaction in the hospital setting and it was one of the most horrific things I ever saw and it has stayed with me forever. A huge effort to prevent even one death like this is worthwhile. We are talking about the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Provision of Epinephrine Auto-Injectors: Discussion (24 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I thank Professor Hourihane. That is pretty helpful. We have had years of no maternal deaths in Ireland, which was wonderful. It is not the way it is now but it was that way for a while. We put a huge effort into ensuring there were no maternal deaths. Rarity should not be an argument for not doing something. This is an event for which there should be zero tolerance. We should have no...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Provision of Epinephrine Auto-Injectors: Discussion (24 Jun 2014)

John Crown: Saved by the bell. It is important we tackle this on a number of fronts. There are people here who would support the witnesses in any way in trying to address these problems.

Seanad: Health Insurance (Reform) Bill 2014: Second Stage (25 Jun 2014)

John Crown: It is 21 years since I returned to Ireland. At that time, I rapidly came to the conclusion that the health system was in fundamental need of reform. The key problems that were obvious to me were the general poor quality, extraordinary inefficiency and highly unequal nature of the health system. It struck me that the key problem was that we had two fundamentally different health systems...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I have a stake in this as, probably uniquely in this room, I sometimes cause infertility. Cancer treatments can cause side effects and every oncologist must warn patients in advance of them. There is even a small chance of dying from the side-effects of some treatments for which the alternative is inevitable death from cancer. The most difficult thing we have to do is tell people they may...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: As I must attend the vote, I ask the witnesses to answer the questions I have submitted.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: Is there any public relations staff member?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I am sorry, Chairman, but I did not hear the reply to the question about the Arc Adoption company. What services does it provide and does the Adoption Authority of Ireland have any oversight over its billing practices?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I may be very stupid, but I am still not happy that I understand the number. Has there been a sea change in the number of adoptions since the implementation of the Hague Convention? We hear that there have only been 11 post-Hague adoptions. Does that mean the other 106 adoptions that took place last year were already in the system pre-Hague-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: -----or that they were being conducted outside the Hague strictures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: In short, what does Mr. Gildea think will happen to the number of international adoptions over the next few years?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: From what?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: Does Mr. Gildea think that will be the steady state for the number of adoptions?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I understand the figures were approximately 200 per annum-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I am a simple soul here. Is it better to have 50 adoptions than to have 300? Is Mr. Gildea concerned that there was so much malfeasance taking place among the other pre-Hague-regulated adoptions that the evil will be countermanded by what will be a potentially tightening of the screws to the extent that legitimate adoptions which might not satisfy the bureaucratic strictures will not take place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: Would it be appropriate to ask if Rosita Boland could speak?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

John Crown: I am not. I asked her and she agreed in advance.

Seanad: Order of Business (1 Jul 2014)

John Crown: It is a given that the country found itself in a very difficult situation financially and found itself making what have been called difficult choices, clearly choices that were more difficult for some than for others, over the last few years. The two parties in the Government signed up to a programme which was largely based on trying to get the public finances into order through a process of...