Results 2,481-2,500 of 2,569 for speaker:Peter Fitzpatrick

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I thank Deputy Neville for attending this meeting and for his contribution. I will withdraw the amendment.

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (9 Nov 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I move amendment No. 1: In page 4, before section 3, to insert the following new section: 3.--Section 4(1) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (l):“(m) psychological therapist.”.”.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion with Community and Voluntary Groups (8 Nov 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the witnesses. The presentations were excellent. I am a Government backbencher and none of us wishes to impose any cuts on anybody. If there are cuts, it is important they are minimised. I have been talking to the Minister, and I am trying to do my best for all the groups. Mr. Chris Macey gave me a shock, and it is not because I am a non-smoker. A total of 79% of the price of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion with Community and Voluntary Groups (8 Nov 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: On 9 October the committee issued a letter asking the Minister to reverse his cuts and so forth. Cuts of 14% from 2008 to 2011 is a lot. Mr. Dillon has a fantastic organisation and we will all try to help him. People think the Government is imposing these cuts purposely, but that is not the case. The bottom line is that the country is bankrupt and we are trying to do our best. Health is...

Pensions and Retirement Lump Sums: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (7 Nov 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Private Members' motion proposed by the Technical Group. I found it quite remarkable that for such a short proposal it took me a long time to read it and even longer to understand it. In my youth in Louth and in particular Dundalk, I never had many occasions to encounter the word "exhortations". Since my youth I have had even fewer occasions to...

Prospects for Irish Economy: Statements (Resumed) (25 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Government's economic policy. As Deputies will be aware, economics is defined as a social science which analyses the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. In the context of Ireland and the benefits that are accruing as a result of the Government's policy, it is easy to identify numerous national successes. Each night, as I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the chairman and chief executive of the Health Insurance Authority. It has mentioned that two of the main supports of health insurance are open enrolment and lifetime cover. That is fine if health insurance is affordable. It was also mentioned that every year since 2008, 50,000 people cannot afford health insurance and leave the system. Health insurance costs are on the rise and...

Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (18 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Bill 2012. There was a time when senior company executives travelled exclusively in first class, but no longer. Shareholders are seeking better use of their company funds. Airlines are reducing the space allocated to the first-class brigade, as these sections of the aeroplane are not filling as they once...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Children and Youth Issues: Discussion with Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (18 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the Minister and her staff. I have been canvassing in County Louth in recent weeks and the response has been great. One question keeps coming up and I promised the citizens of Louth that if I got a chance, I would put it to the Minister. People want to know if this referendum will make it easier for children to be taken from their parents in exceptional cases, and also when...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Childhood Obesity: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I thank the witnesses for coming here today. When I was canvassing during the general election campaign 19 months ago I could not help but notice the number of people who were overweight or obese. I said to myself at the time that if I could do something to help such people, I would. The problem is alarming. I congratulate the Minister for setting up the special action group and some of...

Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012: Second Stage (Resumed) (10 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012 which provides for the implementation in national law of certain fiscal rules contained in the Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union. It continues a programme of reforming Ireland's budgetary framework in line with developments at national and EU level. It is aptly named...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Childhood Obesity: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: Awareness is the most important aspect. For months I have been saying it should start with parents at the kitchen table.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Childhood Obesity: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: The first step is that when children leave the house in the morning with their lunch boxes, the parents have been educated about the food they should be given. We have to make people aware. Many in my constituency are looking for advice on weight and obesity. It is most important that when groups appear before the committee, they give us the facts and figures. In turn, we can give the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Childhood Obesity: Discussion (Resumed) (4 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the witnesses to this committee. The main reason we are dealing with this issue is to make people aware of the damage that being overweight and obese can do to one's health. It is important to show people how they can combat this problem. Obesity levels in Ireland have risen dramatically in the past 20 years. In the 1990s, only one in ten Irish men was obese, and the level today...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Entitlements for Self-Employed: Discussion with Self-Employed Alliance Dundalk (3 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: The presentation this morning discussed the financial position and how the Department goes back two and a half years in a business history. Two and half years ago I am sure people's businesses were thriving, so there is no true reflection of what is happening now. There should be some kind of emergency provision so that people could get money now while the Department considers the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Entitlements for Self-Employed: Discussion with Self-Employed Alliance Dundalk (3 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: Our guests put their savings and every penny they have into their businesses. I commend them. Members from the Louth and east Meath area are present and would be happy to help. Too many people talk without acting. Do not be afraid to ask for our help. As a newly elected Deputy, I know the efforts our guests have invested.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Entitlements for Self-Employed: Discussion with Self-Employed Alliance Dundalk (3 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the representatives of Self-Employed Alliance Dundalk. I am a newly elected Deputy and know how hard it is to appear before an Oireachtas committee to make a statement. The delegates have done a fantastic job. Mr. Kevin McArdle’s presentation was very honest. He did not leave anything out and everything he said is true. It took a lot for a very established businessman in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection: Policy to Minimise Unemployment: Discussion with Department of Social Protection (3 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: First, I welcome the Self-Employed Alliance Dundalk. I myself was self-employed for a number of years. I took a chance and I gave employment. I do not understand the reason self-employed people cannot pay the same PRSI contributions as their employees. Being self-employed, one pays all one taxes, one pays one's PRSI, one's universal social charges and one's PAYE obligations. One takes a...

Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (2 Oct 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Health and Social Care Professionals Bill. The Bill proposes necessary technical amendments to the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005, which introduced a State regulatory regime for the designated health and social care professions not previously regulated. The main purpose of the Bill is to amend the Act to allow the Minister for Health...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Role and Functions: Discussion with Irish Medicines Board (27 Sep 2012)

Peter Fitzpatrick: I thank Mr. O'Mahony for coming before us. Why are Irish citizens forced to pay more for medicine than their counterparts in other countries? The HSE is paying up to 12 times as much as the NHS in Britain in respect of the same generic drugs. For example, it paid 42% more than the NHS for the commonly prescribed anti-depressive Lexapro. The HSE pays €44 for 20 Lexapro tablets,...