Results 4,761-4,780 of 8,245 for speaker:Bríd Smith

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: There is one question I omitted to ask. The section of the report dealing with the progress report on interval cancer audits indicates that the expert group is looking at processes that should work in the future. Is it not the case that, after the Vicky Phelan case last April, the internal audit was shut down and that, since then, between 250 and 300 women who were excluded from the group...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: That review has been delayed repeatedly.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: We are still talking about a cohort of women who were excluded from an audit and who are likely to have a screening history that should be examined. What is the answer to them? They are being excluded from a group that has access to a certain healthcare package which, in the case of Vicky Phelan in particular, is proving to be excellent. It is disgraceful that these women are being...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: It has been paused for a whole year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: I contend that, in not having an audit in place that will sufficiently address their concerns about their screening history, the HSE is doing a big disservice to a cohort of women who are suffering. The only conclusion I can make from the failure to have such an audit in place is that the HSE does not want that figure to grow. If that is the case, it is another example of a lack of open...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: I understand that but, in its report, the HSE states it has established an independently chaired group made up of clinicians, patient representatives, public health professionals and representatives of medical bodies which has met four times to date. This was a whole year ago. Between 250 and 300 women have been diagnosed with cervical cancer since then. If I was one of them, I would feel...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: It is still not acceptable.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: The HSE cannot reinvent the wheel. The representatives keep making reference to other systems and other countries such as Australia. It should look at their models and adopt one of them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: It should at least reopen the audit it had because it served some purpose.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: The lack of open disclosure was the flaw, not the audit itself.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: I want to correct the record. Dr. Scally said to me that we had no other choice but to renew the contracts. He still had many doubts about the quality of the performance of the labs.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: CervicalCheck Screening Programme Update: Discussion (Resumed) (3 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: It is because of the lack of audit, not because of it.

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: The Industrial Relations (Amendment) Bill 2018 has been in committee since last October. Today, for the fifth day, 500 paramedic and ambulance crews are out on strike, with a sixth day scheduled for 10 April. The Government has appointed a new chief executive officer to the HSE, Mr. Paul Reid, who will earn €300,000 a year, a very handsome sum indeed. That should enable him, at the...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: He is getting a very decent pay packet.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Public Transport Fares (2 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: 17. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to lower fares to encourage uptake of public transport in relation to BusConnects plans; if he has reviewed the increase in fares across public transport since 2011; his views on whether the present fare structures may be discouraging uptake; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15153/19]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Railway Stations (2 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: 55. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his attention has been drawn to the difficulties caused to persons with disabilities by the failure of lifts at DART and rail stations across the city and that these failures are ongoing and constant and make accessing public transport impossible for many persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15152/19]

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Direct Provision System (2 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: 210. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to the practice of direct provision centres encouraging residents to volunteer to undertake duties which could be paid employment jobs; if such practices are widespread; if his Department is consulted by providers before such volunteering is organised; and if he will make a statement on the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Plant Certification: Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (2 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: I do not mind.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Plant Certification: Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (2 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: I thank the commission for its presentation. Having heard everything, I accept the commission’s point about the importance of the rigour of the process in the public interest and that requirement is legislated for. In the seven years between 2012 and 2019, much has changed with this particular case, as well as the wider case of how we deal with climate change and the urgency with...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Plant Certification: Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (2 Apr 2019)

Bríd Smith: Could it go ahead as a biomass power station with fewer supports from the State?