Results 4,481-4,500 of 6,944 for speaker:Michael McNamara

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: I accept that.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Mr. Ryan indicated he would provide a written report. If there is anything else the Deputy would like to ask Mr Ryan, I ask him to do so.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: We will move back to the issue of Covid response. I call Deputy O’Dowd.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: The witnesses might briefly answer the final question because it is Covid-related and perhaps provide a reply in writing to Deputy Devlin in respect of the other questions.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: A reply in writing might be provided on the other questions.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Someone working in the HSE mental health services in the mid-west has suggested to me that there is no consistent or coherent plan on when or how to return to face-to-face meetings. I ask one of the HSE representatives to comment on that.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Is it correct to say that there is no consistent plan in place yet and that it is still being worked on?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Therefore, they have not been implemented locally yet.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: With regard to more remote care, it has been suggested that, rather than smartphones, the staff have Nokia 3210s. These are the type of phones that people were seen using in the programme "Love/Hate", but for very different reasons. It has also been suggested that staff have no handsets and that, several months into the coronavirus restrictions, approval is still awaited in the context of...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: A United Nations report on Covid-19 and mental health states "Reports from Chile, Italy, Spain, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America document how dedicated teams provide mental health support for health-care workers." Were there any such dedicated teams in the HSE or anywhere across mental health services providing mental health...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Would the witnesses agree that the impact of Covid-19 and the necessary restrictions had a negative impact on mental health?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: I am sorry. I do not refer to a negative impact on mental health services but a negative impact on the mental health of the population.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Given that, does Mr. Ryan feel it is surprising or alarming there were no mental health representatives or psychiatry representatives on the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, when all of these decisions were being made?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: If Mr. Ryan does not wish to comment on that, maybe a representative from the Mental Health Commission will comment, and if they do not, then that is fine.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: I understand it was not as a representative of mental health or psychiatry but rather in her new role. Is that correct?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Okay. Mr. Farrelly has been very clear with that message and I thank him very much. I also thank the other representatives from the Mental Health Commission, Ms Rosemary Smyth and Dr. Susan Finnerty. I thank Mr. Jim Ryan, Dr. Brendan Doody and Dr. Amir Niazi from the HSE. I will suspend the committee until later this afternoon, when it will meet in private session.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: I thank the Acting Chairman. I have a couple of questions for the Department. The Catholic Primary School Management Association, CPSMA, is concerned by the shortfall in what is normally generated through fundraising. Obviously, national schools and other schools across Ireland are regularly involved in fundraising, for example, members of boards of management or parents standing at the...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Substitutes are key, and as we have been discussing at this meeting, it is difficult to get substitutes. In recent years, a large number of qualified teachers have gone to the Middle East in particular. Some of them have returned. What mechanism is being proposed? It is difficult to expect graduates who are in demand all over the world to sit around on the off-chance that they will get a...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: The Department is proposing to increase the number of posts so that there is no longer irregular work.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Impact of Covid-19: Education – Return to School and School Transport (Resumed) (10 Jul 2020)

Michael McNamara: Is it correct to say the Department is hoping to increase the number of posts?