Results 37,961-37,980 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I am happy to look at documentation that says the opposite.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I am quite sure that that is right, but we can go into it again if the Deputy so wishes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I am quite sure that they were right. However, the Deputy has raised a very fair question on whether capital is being provided. There is over €1 billion in the capital in the budget for next year. It is €1,35,000,000. There is €900 million for construction and equipping, €120 million for ICT and e-health, and another €15 million for agencies, so the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will provide the Deputy with a detailed, up-to-date note on that issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I am scribbling furiously. I am taking note of the question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his kind words. I agree with him wholeheartedly about the Department of Health, the HSE, HIQA and the other State agencies regarding the volume of work that the various organisations have to do and the fact that Covid probably doubles the work. The staff have not doubled. This has meant that in the Department, HSE, HIQA, HPSC, HPRA and across the board the same...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We have been watching this with great interest. We are going to see where it goes. Other European countries are looking at scaling up rapid testing, be it molecular or antibody testing, quickly. What Slovakia is doing is interesting. The latest figures I have from public health officials suggest such tests, if they are done right and if the testing is good and the sensitivity and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will have to take a look at that. I am not aware of the issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: A total of 1.95 million vaccinations were procured. This comprises 1.35 million for adults and 600,000 for children. The group being provided with it for free includes those aged between two and 12. I will get the committee a detailed note but, from memory, half of the nasal spray vaccinations for the children, some 300,000 in total, have been distributed. The remaining 300,000 are being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I am sorry but I do not know. A total of 950,000 doses have been distributed for adults. We assume everything that has been distributed has been administered because there is high demand. The remaining 400,000 have arrived in Ireland. There was a slowdown from the manufacturer but they are all here now and they are being distributed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Australia essentially did not have a flu season.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will ensure the committee gets information on both. At the moment NPHET is conducting a review. I have spoken with the CMO about visors. The unambiguous answer is to stop using them. They do not work. We have to use face coverings. More needs to be done, at a minimum on communications, in terms of how to wear face coverings.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will ask. The Deputy asked about the percentages per workplace. The answer is that this information exists and I will get it to the committee. The one addendum that the public health teams always give me when I ask them these exact questions is that the systems can trace a person's profession and where they have it, but the virus could be in a person's system for two weeks before he or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: They have that data, but it can be difficult to establish where anyone gets it. Knowing that one person got it from a family member or at work or when the person got a haircut or was in a restaurant over a two-week period can be difficult to ascertain.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As with the Deputy, I have been contacted by many people in this situation and there have been some really sad stories. For some people it is frustrating that mums, dads and partners cannot get in for scans. We have also been made aware, as I am sure the Deputy has, of really traumatic situations where things have gone wrong during birth and the partners cannot get in then either, at a time...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: The issue regarding primary medical certificates is something that has been raised. I have raised it with the Department and I am looking for a report on it. I will revert back to the Deputy with detail because, as she says, there are complex legalities to it but it has to be sorted out very quickly. On HIQA inspections in disability services, I will ask HIQA to come back to me with the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I undertake, at a minimum, to provide the Deputy with a briefing note this week on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I ask the Minister, Deputy Butler, to come in on that question.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Update on Covid-19 and Review of Budget 2021: Minister for Health (4 Nov 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. The point he is making essentially concerns whether we are going to get to enough ICU beds by the end of next year. No, we are not. It has to be a multi-year program. We have worked closely with the HSE to determine what is possible. For example, the HSE had planned to introduce some beds in quarter 1 of 2022. We worked with them to say, "No, we will get them in in...