Results 2,241-2,260 of 6,065 for speaker:Martin Conway

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: Post the broadcasting of the programme, has the Department had subsequent discussions with the director general or any other senior official in RTÉ?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: Is the Department aware of any subsequent programme RTÉ may have wished to air or possibly considered airing but decided not to air or decided to postpone?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: Has the Department had any contact from the Ombudsman for Children subsequent to the broadcasting of the programme? I believe he had some harsh things to say in the aftermath of the broadcast.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: I wish to refer to the representative bodies of the various clinicians in the context of the issue of ethics. I accept the fact that it is possible no laws were broken but there is certainly an ethical issue with which people are grappling. Has the Department had any engagement with the representative bodies of the various clinicians on the ethical framework around what has happened?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: One of the key issues that Mr. Shane Corr had, which he outlined to us last week in a private meeting, is essentially that there appears to be some class of service level agreement, or certainly, established protocols between the Department of Health and the Department of Education in terms of sharing information. There are spreadsheets in existence and so on. What is Mr. Watt's view on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: One of the other issues about which Mr. Corr has serious concerns is that the Department is preparing, essentially, for the possible event that cases are taken against it on a human rights basis. Essentially, the Department is gathering the information and has it ready to go if an action actually materialises. Mr. Corr more or less made the case that there is a serious ethical issue here....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: I will put it to Mr. Watt another way. Is there a section within the Department that essentially manages risk and identifies if there is potential litigation that may arise down the track, and prepares and puts together a dossier of information on the basis that there is a potential legal risk to the Department?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: With respect, I asked the question in a different way, to which I believe Mr. Watt responded. I asked if there is a section within his Department, or a package within the Department's computer system, that is storing and preparing information for potential legal challenges? Mr. Watt is quite clear that is not the case.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: I am conscious of my time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: Mr. Watt has said that three times. He only needed to say it once. The Chairman might give me a bit of latitude in my questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: Mr. Watt has said it three times now. He is not going to talk down the clock with me. In terms of the liaison officer the Department has appointed for the 29 families, Mr. Watt might give us an update on how that work is proceeding. I know that person was appointed at the end of last month. Can Mr. Watt give us a quick initial update on how that person is getting on? Have the families...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: Before he goes, I am sure Mr. Watt can understand how horrified people with special needs in general, and people who have children with special educational needs, were in response to the broadcast of that programme. As somebody who had special educational needs as a child, I certainly would be very concerned at any breaches of what would be considered standard ethics in terms of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: My final question is for Mr. Watt. Another concern is that many people had access to this information. Can Mr. Watt give us an idea of how many people within the Department have access to these sensitive files? Is it possible that a tech-savvy clerical officer in a different section would be able to dial in and review and read these sensitive files?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: Prior to the Department putting in these new encryptions and passwords, was there the potential for many more people to have access to those files?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: On foot of the programme, did the Department bring in an independent security firm to review its security systems within the computer operation that it has, just to be sure that practically everyone in the Department did not have access? Did the Department get any independent advice on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: Why did the Department need to introduce extra encryptions and passwords, if that was the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: But Mr. Watt-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: I will finish now, Chairman. My point is, if the system was as foolproof as Mr. Watt said it was, why did the Department need to introduce extra information technology, IT, security systems?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Whistleblower Allegations: Department of Health (5 May 2021)

Martin Conway: I thank the Chairman and Mr. Watt.

Seanad: Business and Covid-19: Statements (30 Apr 2021)

Martin Conway: Of course. I welcome the Tánaiste to the House and commend him on the job he is doing as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the job he did during the pandemic as Taoiseach and continues to do as Tánaiste. As has been said, it is post Covid that the real challenge will fall upon him in terms of economic recovery.I welcome the fact we will have a plan published in the...