Results 2,401-2,420 of 2,964 for speaker:James O'Connor

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: I thank Deputy Lahart for allowing me to have his slot and thank you, Chairman, for your co-operation. This issue needs no introduction. It is extraordinarily serious. Mr. Fitzgerald and the representatives here with him from the HSE are very aware of just how concerned all of us in the constituency of Cork East are by what the HSE is trying to do in Midleton. I wish once again to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: Will Dr. O'Brien run me through the difference between the level of care provided in high-support hostel accommodation compared with the service level received by someone in the Owenacurra centre? Is there round-the-clock supervision, which is the requirement in many cases?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: Where are those hostels?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: I wish to ask about an issue that has been well discussed but must be raised again, that being, the HSE's position on the Owenacurra site. We heard at the Oireachtas forum that the HSE was willing to utilise the site for future mental health services. Six months on, surely someone at this meeting will clarify whether rebuilding a fit-for-purpose Owenacurra Centre with full-time residential...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: Mr. Kane is telling me the HSE cannot rebuild on the existing site because of its current constraints.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: That is ridiculous.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are acres of room at the facility. Do not try to sell me or any other public representative that line.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: With all due respect, that was one of the most outrageous answers I have heard since walking into the Oireachtas. I have to say that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: The HSE is in the process of trying to obtain an existing day care centre. I believe it has actually identified a location. As Mr. Kane knows well, I am talking about a residential mental healthcare service that has 24-hour staffing and supervision. If the square footage of the site is an issue, no one would be disappointed or upset at reducing the current number of beds by a fraction to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are 19 residents to be-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are probably rooms available in the facility.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: This is an important question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: I think I am being misled at this committee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: They are not giving accurate answers, Chairperson.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are 19 bedrooms in total in the Owenacurra centre.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: I asked a question and I want an answer to that. How many bedrooms are in the Owenacurra centre? The question is not how many residents were in there. How many bedrooms are in the Owenacurra centre?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: There are 19 bedrooms. If the HSE reduced the number of bedrooms in that facility to bring it up to the current guidelines that are needed by it to provide an acceptable level of care, is there then the availability or option of reconstructing a new residential mental healthcare service in Midleton?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: It has been interesting to listen to colleagues have an opportunity to question the representatives of the HSE. I am not at all satisfied by what I have heard at this meeting. Above all else, it comes down to the basic fact the HSE will strip my local area within my constituency of its existing residential mental health care services. For example, in Kanturk in north-west Cork, there are...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Management of Social Welfare Appeals
Chapter 11 - Controls Over the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (9 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: I welcome the witnesses. I do not have a host of issues to raise but it is important to acknowledge that, since the outset of the pandemic, their Department has been under a heavier burden than most. Many people appreciate that work, as do I as a public representative. Suffice it to say, though, we have questions to ask. The gross expenditure from the Social Insurance Fund was in excess...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 37 - Social Protection
Chapter 9 - Regularity of Social Welfare Payments
Chapter 10 - Management of Social Welfare Appeals
Chapter 11 - Controls Over the Covid-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment (9 Dec 2021)

James O'Connor: I apologise for interrupting but I am a little time restricted and might revert to that question for a reply during the additional round of questions. My next question is on the matter of suspected fraud. We are aware from the details provided to us that this accounted for approximately €18 million in 2019. The pandemic has naturally increased the amount of support that people...