Results 12,321-12,340 of 32,978 for speaker:Catherine Connolly

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: I would be happy to wait for the Comptroller and Auditor General to come back after he gets further information to see what his viewpoint is at that stage. The committee can certainly have a role. NAMA was set up arising from a failure of governance and of regulation. When representatives of NAMA have come before us, we have expressed the most serious concerns about the lack of governance...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Gabhaim buíochas leis na haíonna. Bhí sibh thar a bheith ionraic agus díreach agus thug sibh freagraí. It is refreshing to have such comprehensive information provided in an open manner. I thank the witnesses for that. Mr. Breslin's comment that the people affected by the State in particular are coming from a horrendous place. That must be borne in mind. The...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: That is reassuring but I am looking at a strategy that was set a long time ago. The period of the strategy has passed and the recommendations have not been complied with. At that time, it was recognised that people's lives were chaotic, although I do not like the use of that word. They suffered very chaotic experiences that led them into that. The importance of community was recognised at...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Has the programme analysed communities across Ireland to determine which ones are priorities. Professor McCormick mentioned Dublin.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: From what data or research is the project working? What will be rolled out?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: When was that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: It took some time from the date the strategy was published to roll out a community programme.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: I accept that. This has been going from 2017 and the policy was obviously to treat the sickest people first. However, that did not happen because, as has been pointed out, the budget ran out and, from what I am reading, it was suddenly suspended.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: I understood that when the budget ran out the programme was suspended.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Therefore, new patients who may have been chronically ill were not getting treatment during the period the programme was suspended.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: No, that happened and that is acknowledged. For a crucial period, people who were very ill, new patients, were not getting treatment because of the budget problems. We now have a new problem now. Professor McCormick is saying that we have plenty of money, which is good, and that he hopes the programme will reach its target well before 2026, which is excellent. However, I am not hearing...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: The witnesses' openness is very welcome. If such openness had been shown years ago, we would not be in the position where €54 million and rising has been spent on the area. I do not want to exaggerate the cost of the Finlay and Lindsay tribunals but the figure was high enough. The tribunals cost €47 million and there is also the cost of the compensation for all the heartbreak...

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: These were the 1,700 people who were identified as having been infected through State action.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: This goes back to the 1990s. I am sorry, I am mixed up.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: It is a specific drug. They had been under treatment prior to that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: I understand. Hepatitis C has been a notifiable disease since 2004. Two things happened that year. A register was established of those infected as a result of the State and a separate register was established in relation to notifiable diseases. Have these two registers been merged?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: I saw that, and there is an uptake of around 80%.

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: The Comptroller and Auditor General made three recommendations. The HSE accepted them save for one relating to the setting up of a national register, citing data protection issues. Where is the HSE on that recommendation and its related actions?

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: Was the recommendation in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report reasonable or unreasonable? Is it doable and, if so, when will it-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2017 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 15: Hepatitis C Treatment in Ireland
Management of Medical Negligence (22 Nov 2018)

Catherine Connolly: I have read that and I understand those considerations, but when does the HSE see itself overcoming them and what steps is it taking? Is there a process in place to achieve it?