Results 2,741-2,760 of 3,444 for speaker:Shane Cassells

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: We can agree. That is fine.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: That is fine. Okay. This agency that cannot be named------

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: Should not be named. I will use Mr. O'Brien's language as it is a better way of doing business. There were concerns in the small voluntary agency that cannot be named that funding for its work might be negatively impacted by virtue of a protected disclosure made. Minutes of the HSE meeting held on 12 November 2009 discuss the need to remind the small agency that it was entirely reliant on...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: Is Mr. O'Brien willing to explore whether there is any merit in that statement?

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I do not. It is evident from this morning's evidence that there is a need for expediency in the delivery of the Deloitte report.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: All members look forward to the publication of the external review. I thank Mr. O'Brien.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I welcome the witnesses here. First, I note the significance of the budget we are discussing, namely, €14.5 billion. Earlier, Deputy Connolly referred to University Hospital Galway and how things can have an impact on so many aspects of our lives. Last night I was dealing with an application relating to a small project in Navan for school completion, which the HSE will, hopefully,...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: In terms of the HSE liaison with the Comptroller and Auditor General's office, which has flagged this issue in previous years, I ask the Comptroller and Auditor General whether there is confidence that the improvements can be achieved by the deadline of 2020. I acknowledge that the Comptroller and Auditor General is not obliged to set that out.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I am asking both the witness and the Comptroller and Auditor General, if that is appropriate.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: Mr. Mulvany mentioned the monitoring and oversight of grants to outside agencies which involved the significant sum of €3.8 billion in 2016. He mentioned the compliance unit. Mr. O'Brien also mentioned the weakness in monitoring. What is the extent of the potential for monitoring? If we look at the Console situation, Mr. O'Brien made a particular point that this agency was held up...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I appreciate that there is not necessarily a change of approach, in that the HSE is still only focused on the aspect of the service it is getting and not the wider reputational aspect of an organisation.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I want to move on to the number of staff. I note from looking at the different employee statistics that there have been small increases in acute services, social care and so on. An aspect I want to touch on is those directly employed in home help. The numbers there have gone from 3,700 in 2014 to just 3,100 last year, which is a 14% reduction. One of the biggest issues coming across our...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I appreciate that. Can Mr. Mulvany explain why there was a significant reduction in the number of directly employed staff? While the HSE is also outsourcing the service, there is an issue if people are being approved for packages but cannot then get the actual home help.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I am just trying to find out because the HSE referred earlier to the cost of agency staff as opposed to the cost of those who would be directly employed.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I touch on that issue of things the HSE funds but does not necessarily provide itself. It funds these services to ensure they are part of the health service. Mr. O'Brien mentioned the Supplementary Estimate in 2015 for disability services. Last week in my constituency of Meath the issue of adult disability services was a very prominent matter. It was covered extensively by the local...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I very much appreciate that as will the parents involved. One of the notes I saw related to the receipts from road traffic accidents which were on average €5 million and indeed nearly €6 million last year. Can the HSE explain the nature of these receipts and the income generated from them?

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: If there is a liability on the part of a driver in a road traffic collision, the insurance company pays. An issue that pops up consistently is where the fire service co-ordinates with the paramedic service. This is ambulance dispatch units and their interaction with local fire services. In terms of the policy across the board, it seems to be a particular problem in my own county where...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: I ask for that. Local media covered this last month and the HSE was provided with a catalogue of incidents from my own home town of Navan as well as from Ashbourne and the northern part of the county, but no response was provided to the queries.

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: Yes. I ask for that to be followed up because it is a recurring issue. Fire services in Meath have actually won international competitions. My own home town hosted an international competition only two weeks ago for road traffic collision teams. However, the synergy does not exist between the paramedics and fire services in Meath, which has been a particular source of irritation for the...

Public Accounts Committee: HSE Financial Statements 2015 and 2016
Clarification of Matters Relating to Meeting of 2 February 2016 (15 Jun 2017)

Shane Cassells: Yes, at the scene of a road traffic collision.