Results 11,461-11,480 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cancer Services (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: My position going into this is exactly my position today. The only thing we want to do is what is right by these women. Deputy Kelly and I voted in this House for the Act that sets this tribunal up.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Cancer Services (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: What I want to do and what I believe Deputy Kelly wants to do is get this tribunal set up. We have made progress right across the board, within the bounds of the law, which we obviously have to follow.

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Tests (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree wholeheartedly with the Deputy. The answer may be a bit long but I will supply the Deputy with the full text if we do not get through it. On the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, the HSE developed the capacity to conduct 100,000 tests per week. I subsequently met the HSE and requested that it look at increasing the capacity. This is now in place and...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Tests (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We discussed this in the Chamber before. I do not accept the system collapsed. I absolutely accept that what happened should not have happened. Many people were asked to contact their own close contacts. That is not what we want. I would not see that as the system collapsing, however. In some European countries where cases rose, one essentially saw contact tracing stopping. We did not...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Tests (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We will just have to agree to disagree on the system collapsing. As I said, obviously one does not want people having to contact their own close contacts. As a one-off event in nine months or so of a global pandemic, I certainly do not believe that constitutes a collapse at all. I cannot speak to people saying an additional 800. I am pretty sure what I have been saying is that it is...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I do. There are many different things going on. The first of two of the big ones, of which the Deputy will be aware, is moving the public health doctors to consultant status, which is important. The Department is currently in preliminary talks with the IMO about how that might work. I am meeting with public health doctors this Friday. The second is an expansion of the workforce. I have...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We are negotiating the consultant contract. Discussions are ongoing between the Department and the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO. With the greatest respect, I cannot get into the detail of those negotiations because they are ongoing. As the Deputy noted, various statements have been made. The public health doctors are considering a ballot, which I fully appreciate is their right....

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I can commit to a doubling of the public health workforce in consultation with the public health doctors, and to the creation of the public health consultant contract. The Deputy is quite right. This is something they have been seeking for decades. There is a process under way between the Department and the IMO. For me to make the definitive statements the Deputy is...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Nursing Education (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I recognise the importance of student nurses and midwives completing their essential clinical placements in a safe environment. I also recognise the potential hardship that might arise due to Covid-19 for students on placement, such as maintaining part-time employment, increased travel and additional accommodation costs. Student nurses and midwives are not paid for...

Ceisteanna (Atógáil) - Questions (Resumed) - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Nursing Education (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I fully agree that nursing students need support. He refers to the HCA wage which was paid during the first wave of the pandemic. The Deputy should bear in mind that when that happened the student nurses were essentially asked to move from education to work. They were working full-time. They stepped up when they were needed and did a fantastic job in a crisis. They...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: HSE Staff (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. Covid-19 has greatly increased pressures on the health service and staff have shown incredible strength and care in their duties. Several initiatives were undertaken to staff the necessary expansion of the workforce and these have facilitated an expansion of 4,292 whole-time equivalents from the end of February to the end of September of this year. While this...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: HSE Staff (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As to whether the resources are enough, the budget provided for the biggest increase in health spending we have ever had. That would hold true even if one stripped out the Covid funding. What we are funding next year is very ambitious. We are funding the biggest increase in acute beds, ICU beds, community beds and workforce in a single year. I think we are pushing the limits of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: HSE Staff (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: In terms of the figures in respect of the Be on Call for Ireland initiative, when one narrows down the number who applied to the number deemed to have the relevant qualification, then to those who answered the follow-up, then to those who went through the interview process and finally to those who successfully interviewed, one moves very quickly from a very large number to a far smaller...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Children's Hospital (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will give the Deputy the short answer first. As of now, I am not aware of additional cost overruns, but that is not to say that there will not be any such overruns. With Covid, it is inevitable there will be some overruns but none have been agreed, arbitrated on and reported to the Department by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board, NPHDB. In fairness to the NPHDB, Members...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Children's Hospital (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I do not think there will be any issue in that regard so long as there are no commercial sensitivity issues. I will arrange for that information to be provided to the Deputy. On the issue of timing, the board is continuing to engage with the main contractor to obtain an updated programme of works that is in line with its contractual commitments. As any delivery outside of the timelines...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Children's Hospital (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I ask the Deputy to repeat that last bit.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Children's Hospital (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I cannot quote all the Standing Orders, but I imagine that the Deputy's question is miles out of order, nonetheless-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Children's Hospital (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will answer. I think it would be ruled out of order by the Chair, but I have no problem answering the question at all. My understanding is that it was not available and hence I was looking for it. It was a critical contract because it was moving away from what is still the existing GP contract. It was essentially adding to the existing GP contract but in an important way - in ways...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Children's Hospital (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: -----at the time.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: National Children's Hospital (3 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will revert on the other question.