Results 181-200 of 1,061 for speaker:Séamus McGrath

Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community: Child Protection and Family Support: Discussion (Resumed) (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: That is very good. It reinforces the point about the power of education. The key point is Tusla is empowering and enabling the Travelling community. It is not about handing out supports but about enabling members of the community to improve their own position in society. You cannot beat the power of enabling people to be able to do that themselves. I commend the agency on that work. It...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I thank everybody for being here. I will start with the NTPF if I may. I am trying to fully understand the operation of the insourcing and how that works in reality. In her opening statement, Ms Brady referred to it as funding provided directly to public hospitals to deliver additional treatment or outpatient consultations beyond their core HSE-funded activity. What is the definition of a...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Is there a facility for them to do more hours under the public system? In other words, have they overtime options under the public system? That is not in the insourcing system, but working within the core funding system.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: The premium for that overtime would not be as much as what they would get from insourcing additional hours. Is that fair to say?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Yesterday, the HSE chief said there is a disincentive to do additional hours under the core funding model. If they do additional hours beyond their 37, they get additional payment and it is at a premium, but it is quite clear to me that they are better using their time, from a financial point of view, on the insourcing options.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I thought Mr. Sweeney said they did.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I understand that but what I am getting at is whether the core funding system allows consultants working in the core funding model of 37 hours-plus to do extra hours to try to clear patient backlogs. My point is that they are not going to do that if they can get funded through the insourcing model, which is more lucrative for them. That is the key point. There is a disincentive for them to...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: To clarify, is that for third-party providers within the public hospital setting?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: It can happen.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I am caught for time. It is hard to get away from the fact that this whole structure is, effectively, robbing Peter to pay Paul. It has been said that 30% of NTPF funding is used for insourcing.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: On the recommendation to phase out insourcing, what are the implications for the delivery of services? It seems a large portion of funding is for insourcing. I know that only a certain element of insourcing is to be phased out but I presume it will still have a significant impact on patient care and treatments and procedures.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I understand that but there is, for the want of a better word, a whiff around it in terms of conflicts of interest and the disincentive to do additional work over and above the normal within the core funding system. A lot of conflicts arise that need to be thrashed out further, to be perfectly honest. Does Ms Brady accept the HSE report and the HSE chief executive's views on phasing it out?...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: On the NTPF review of 38 entities, which raised issues with three of those entities, from reading the report, it seems as if it was almost a self-declaration process. The NTPF asked the hospitals whether they were compliant and so on. Did the NTPF just accept their responses on that?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: It seems there was a large element of trust. It was effectively based on self-declaration.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Does the NTPF accept that it continued to fund insourcing at Beaumont Hospital in the absence of a signed MOU? What level of funding was given out during that period in the absence of a signed MOU?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: Was the MOU in place throughout that period?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I understand that but the MOU sounds like a fairly essential control measure. I get the trust element - we all have to have trust in life - but it is a lot of money and-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2024: National Treatment Purchase Fund
Financial Statements 2023: Beaumont Hospital Board (9 Oct 2025)

Séamus McGrath: I understand that but we are here because the trust broke down somewhere and issues arose.