Results 11,081-11,100 of 21,514 for speaker:Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Vaccination Programme (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: At the committee meeting I mentioned, an HSE representative said that the HSE and the World Health Organisation expected "adverse events to be at a minimum". The Minister compared the number of people presenting with narcolepsy and the number of those who received the Pandemrix vaccine, but this is a serious matter for the children and families concerned, and such assurances have proved...

Vaccination Programme (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: We have to deal with the situation here and now.

Hospital Accommodation (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Question 5: To ask the Minister for Health if he will commence a programme of reopening public hospital beds in view of the research by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation showing that more than 1,900 public hospital beds are currently closed [26440/11]

Hospital Accommodation (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Shortly after he came to office, the Minister indicated, in his address to the INMO conference, that he accepted the INMO trolley-watch figures. Does he also accept the INMO figures for closed hospital beds? It is strange that he does not want to talk about bed closures because he talked about them ad nauseam when he was on the Opposition benches. At the last count the INMO figure was...

Hospital Accommodation (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Minister is good at citing what he said previously.

Hospital Accommodation (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: What the Minister has just indicated he does not agree with is what he said himself on a previous occasion. I quote from a statement of May 2010: More beds closed means more patients suffering needlessly on trolleys and more patients waiting at home in pain due to cancelled operations. Who said that? The Minister said it when 33 beds were closed on a five-day ward in Beaumont Hospital in...

Hospital Accommodation (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Not at all. The only thing that has changed is the Minister's response.

Hospital Accommodation (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: It is not in evidence as we speak.

General Medical Services Contracts (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Minister will be aware from his position as Opposition spokesperson and in his previous professional capacity that Sinn Féin and I have long advocated addressing the privileged position of consultants in the health services. This is not a response to the current economic difficulties post the Celtic tiger era; it long predates all of that. Does the Minister accept, as I expect he will,...

General Medical Services Contracts (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I am aware of the Minister's intent in that regard, having received a written response to a parliamentary question from him in which it was stated that two consultants are currently being targeted and that 40 others will be pursued. It was also stated in the reply that the Minister is serious in this regard, for which I commend him. However, I specifically asked the Minister about the...

Hospital Waiting Lists (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: While one would wish the health service situation in the North to be better than it is, at least we are able to assess it from the data published by the health Department in the Six Counties. Is the Minister aware the Health Service Executive decided to suppress the publication of details on the length of time patients must wait for access to given services in this jurisdiction? This was...

Hospital Waiting Lists (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: We are not able to make comparisons here because the HSE does not want the information to be made available.

Hospital Waiting Lists (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I do not want the Minister to stand over my statement. I want him to have these reversed.

Hospital Waiting Lists (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The spike is also attributable to the closure of certain hospital services at Ennis and Nenagh hospitals and the displacement of countless numbers of patients.

Health Service Staff (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Given early retirements and so on, does the Minister not accept that the crisis in our health service can never be properly addressed until the measures include a lifting of the recruitment embargo? This is essential, given that many front line positions are not being filled. Only a moment ago, the Minister referred to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. Is he aware that the...

Health Service Staff (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Absolutely, but front line staff and beds form a critical part of any solution.

Health Insurance (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Government promised a White paper on universal health insurance "early in its term". That was the phrase used when this proposal was first mooted. When will the White Paper be published? To be specific, will that be before the end of this year? Within the next three odd months, when can we expect legislation to be published? Will it be one item of legislation or will it be a number...

Health Insurance (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: Into what does "two terms of Government" translate? Is it two general election terms, per se? The Minister should be clear with the House.

Health Insurance (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: It is a reasonable question and I am sure the Leas-Cheann Comhairle is also anxious to get the answer.

Health Insurance (28 Sep 2011)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: We will not have a White Paper Christmas in 2011, but tell us-----