Results 3,601-3,620 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Funding (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question, and the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association for the work it does in supporting and advocating for patients. Lung fibrosis, as he will be aware, refers to a group of diseases in which scar tissue develops in the lungs. I have been advised by the HSE that the national clinical director for integrated care has requested that a scoping exercise be undertaken to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I apologise, I was just chasing up one or two bits for him there. I hear what he is saying about the campaigners and their demands for the process to move more quickly, and that is exactly what we have done. The process that was set out in 2021 was for the review to start in 2026. We were going to wait for five years to gather sufficient evidence. The review would...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. It is very clear that there are beneficial effects. We currently have four authorised cannabis products, namely, Epidiolex, with which 184 patients have now been prescribed, Sativex, nabilone and dronabinol. There are 184 patients on Epidiolex and, while I do not have the figures for the others, I know that is the biggest group. We are taking it very seriously and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I would be delighted to do so, and I thank the Deputy for asking the question and giving me the opportunity. The new beds plan, as the Deputy will be aware, is for 3,500 beds, which is on top of the 1,200 that have already been delivered. It is a game-changer. Between those that have been delivered and those that are coming, there are nearly 5,000 beds. Critically, to the core of Deputy...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I can be very clear that the beds plan will have no negative impact on the projects that are currently planned. We are doing both. It is part of an ongoing investment in Ennis Hospital, which really is going from strength to strength. As the Deputy will be aware, a new outpatient department was opened in 2021. Importantly, a new injury unit was opened in 2022. It is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Cannabis for Medicinal Use (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I acknowledge the Deputy's ongoing advocacy and work in the Oireachtas on this issue. From a policy perspective, I want to take a very open approach to medicinal cannabis-based products. We want to make sure it is safe for patients, obviously, and we will always follow the clinical advice. Within that, I have told the Department and the HSE that there should be no idea of shutting these...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services Staff (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I fully agree and we had a debate with his colleague, Deputy Smith, recently on exactly this. There are parts of the country where they have found it very difficult to recruit or replace public health nurses. It is not something that can be allowed to stand. Public health nurses are doing essential work with infants and with older people. We cannot have babies for...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Overcrowding (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: On the day in question, the HSE figure was 401 patients between those in emergency departments and those in the wards. Regardless of whether we use the INMO figure or the HSE figure, both are still far too high. I met the emergency department task force earlier this week. There is a new approach we put in place last year. Many emergency departments, many patients and their families, and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Overcrowding (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: There are a few issues there which I will cover. First, there is an acknowledged deficit in the number of beds. The Deputy will be aware that, two weeks ago, we launched the new business plan, which includes 3,500 beds on top of the 1,200 that have already been opened. This Government will either have opened, have under construction, or now have fully committed to, on a site-by-site basis,...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Overcrowding (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, for years the INMO has been calling for an extra 5,000 beds, and we are adding nearly 5,000 beds. I did not see the glowing press release from the INMO welcoming all of this, but its members and doctors across the country whom I talk to are very happy with the new beds plan, partly because of the scale of it. It is beyond what people were expecting. People are expecting about 1,500...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services Staff (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I want to make sure I am addressing the correct question.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services Staff (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: The number of nurses in our health service has been increasing dramatically in the lifetime of this Government. Since January 2020, right across the health service we have increased the number by almost 29,000 whole-time equivalents. It really has been a huge increase. Deputy Murphy asked specifically about nurses and midwifery. In the lifetime of this Government, the nursing and...

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I did not realise I had only ten minutes. I was handed a 40-minute speech, which I got down to about 15 minutes. The Acting Chairperson can cut me off if necessary or, with the indulgence of the Seanad, perhaps I could have more time.

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I am delighted to be in a position today to bring the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill before Seanad Éireann. This is ground-breaking legislation. For hundreds, and possibly thousands, of families around Ireland, it will provide the route to full parentage for children, mums and dads all over our country. It will introduce, for the first time in Ireland, a regulatory...

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: They are wrong.

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: None of that is true.

Seanad: Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022: Second Stage (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank colleagues for the debate, which has been useful. I acknowledge the contribution from Senator Seery Kearney, which made it all very real and human and reminded us why were are here. I also acknowledge Senators Clifford-Lee, Ardagh and O'Loughlin and others who have pushed hard and worked within the Government and the Opposition to advance progress in fertility. Fertility is...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Facilities (13 Jun 2024)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. In nine hospitals, car parking is free. We have a bunch which charge up to €10 and then we have those three hospitals to which I referred. The latter will, understandably, tell us that this is all well and good but they need money to make it up. It is reasonable for them to state that there would be a funding shortfall in the context of the provision of...