Results 30,321-30,340 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Not at this point. I would very much like to be able to say that. Those conversations are ongoing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will revert to the committee with that. I will make an observation, if I may. The conversation we have been having to date is around the clinical and operational independence of the NMH. It has not been around what happens in St. Vincent's hospital. I appreciate some are saying they are linked but let us-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I have, yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: They went fine. They were productive. I put forward the position of the State and the position of the Government. Out of respect for what were private conversations as part of an ongoing process, I am sure the Senator will understand if I do not get into too much detail. I can say there has been productive engagement and that engagement continues.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I would hope we would have an agreement in place in a matter of weeks. Then the lawyers have to turn that into the final contracts. I caveat that by saying the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, made similar statements when he held this portfolio and I have no doubt he fully believed them. This has been a long and complex process but...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The plan is we build at Elm Park and that we secure the State's investment and we secure clinical and operational independence for the national maternity hospital. That is the plan and needs to remain our focus. This project has gone on far too long for us to be looking to do something fundamentally different right now. However, all options remain on the table. I want the Department...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I do not think it would be helpful at this point in the talks for me to speculate in public on that. It is a very fair question but it would not be helpful for me to speculate at this point.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The Senator may well be right.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: It is moving well. By the end of this week we aim to have administered more than 5 million vaccine doses. We have very high uptake rates among the populations to whom it is available. We are now using the full range of vaccines across all age groups. That has helped because it means we can use all the vaccines coming in. We have good line of sight on many of the deliveries we are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: At this point, I am not. There have been some very useful talks and the talks continue in that regard, but there is nothing concrete I can share at the moment with the Senator.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I am confident the State will own the hospital we build. I am also confident we will agree final governance structures that give watertight guarantees in terms of the clinical and operational independence of the hospital. Further, I am confident we will have a long lease and that options can be put into a legal contract as to what happens at the end of the lease, for example. As to the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, I do. We must make sure we address all of these concerns comprehensively. We will have multiple safeguards in place. One safeguard will be the final agreements on the governance structure for the national maternity hospital, including the reserved powers. What the reserved powers essentially do is prohibit the board, if you like, from acting against the clinical and operational...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: This is a source of frustration for women and their partners, for me and for the HSE as well. I asked for an update for the committee today in case any member wanted to raise it. The situation right now is that there is very clear guidance on daily visits for a minimum of 30 minutes, for the anomaly scan, neonatal intensive care and birth right from the start, including when induced, and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his questions. Regarding his original comment about Mary Aikenhead, I confirm that in the charter of the St. Vincent's Healthcare Group there is no reference to Mary Aikenhead, that I am aware of, or to a religious ethos. The core values in the charter are "human dignity, compassion, justice, quality and advocacy". The charter also then refers to clinical excellence,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: No. We cannot provide details such as those relating to the lease fee.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I fully agree, and I have asked for prioritisation to be given to children aged 12 to 15 years of age who have underlying conditions. We are waiting on some detailed advice from NIAC. In the meantime, however, ahead of receiving that information, I have asked the HSE to prepare and ensure that we can reach out to the parents and guardians of these children and get them vaccinated. ...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Therefore, very targeted amounts of money can make a big difference in women's healthcare and in maternity care.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Senator. Her first question was on a private voluntary hospital versus a State hospital. The alternative would be to disband the National Maternity Hospital. I do not think that anyone has suggested that. The National Maternity Hospital is a private voluntary hospital. I am not sure if the Senator is proposing to disband the National Maternity Hospital and set up a HSE-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: We are moving it down the road. It will be the national maternity hospital at Elm Park. It will have the same commissions, the same staff and it will treat the same patients-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: New National Maternity Hospital: Discussion (14 Jul 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: It is the National Maternity Hospital. Is the Senator proposing that we would set up the new hospital without any reference to the National Maternity Hospital and just have it as a HSE-run hospital?