Results 581-600 of 25,398 for speaker:David Cullinane

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: I know it also does not apply to fourth-year nurses. I should have accepted all of this so that we can cut straight to what it does affect.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: I want to come back on this point because it is important. The health service is different. We get a large number of staff through international recruitment. There is a world shortage of healthcare staff. When we visited Altnagelvin, people spoke about the NHS coming in to poach a lot of staff who are trained there. We hear the same from training colleges in this State. We are losing...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: It depended on the year and sometimes it was a bit more. Let us say it was an average of 6,000. We will now reach one third of this. If the Minister were to say the ceiling is 6,000 or 7,000 and that we would then put a cap on it, people could somewhat understand it. However, that is not what is happening. It happened at the end of last year but it is not happening now. I am putting it...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: I am not saying we will not be hiring staff. I have acknowledged there will be a level of staff employed. It just will not be at the level it was the past three years.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: A bit like the Supplementary Estimate, we will see at the end of the year who was right when it comes to the pressures this will put on the system. In my view, there is no doubt there will be posts in many of these areas where people will not be able to be replaced. There will be people who will want to come and work in the public system or get additional hours who will not be able to do so...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: Will I tell the Minister the reasons why?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: It is because people do not understand who exactly is covered. It talks about a family median income. We need to break it down more in terms of the income threshold because that is what people understand. It is far too vague. Even while preparing for this meeting if I am looking for information on what people are entitled to I Google it and the Citizens Information Service comes up...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: I wish to come back in later in a second round on mental health, and on elective centres and hospitals but I also will raise a last point now. In his opening statement the Minister referred to 160 net additional acute inpatient beds. The Minister might recall that we had some discussion on this subject matter as part of a priority question I tabled last week. As I understand it the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: Okay. I will come back on a second round on other issues. There may have been an expectation built up that now cannot be realised. Going back to what was actually said in this committee from the Department of Health officials when they were pushed on this, if I recall it was the head of capital infrastructure from the Department who talked about some of those beds coming onstream in 2024...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: Will the meeting be finishing at 12.30 p.m.?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: I was going to pose a number of questions on the elective hospitals or centres, but the Chair already raised the matter. I am not looking for a reply, but the committee had a lengthy discussion on the issue with officials late last year. I believe we will have another session on it this year. We need to identify the site in Dublin and progress the other hospitals. This is important for...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: What we were told was that there had been a specific request from the board. What the Minister gave them was a small amount of that to cover expenditure for that period. Will the Minister say what the requested amount was?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: The board told us something different.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: This is where it gets frustrating. The board told us that the request was not related to that, what it needed was money to pay for rising costs, and there would be a separate requirement to deal with outstanding claims and so on. Every time we ask a question about costs, we are told they are commercially sensitive, so answers cannot be given. It strikes me that the hospital will be well...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: If the Minister had said, "Here is the money we have been asked to provide, take out the amount that relates to claims and here is the balance", I could live with that. When he gives us no information, it worries me. I imagine some of the additional money needed to finish this project will be to deal with claims. That is one element. Then, there are other costs. It is not commercially...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: Has the Minister formally met the paediatric development board this year so far?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: I know that.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: I knew that. Has the Minister formally met the paediatric development board this year so far?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (31 Jan 2024)

David Cullinane: I suggest that would be really useful. I had some sharp disagreements with the Minister last year on the role of the Minister versus the role of the board. The board has a clear role in making sure this hospital is built on time. There is a programme of works that the contractor has now submitted. The programme of works determines how quickly the project can be completed. The contractor...