Results 6,321-6,340 of 26,351 for speaker:David Cullinane
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: Just for 2021.
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: That is not correct. In budget 2021, the Minister set out in his own speech a very ambitious target of recruiting a minimum of 14,700 staff. It was in his budget speech. It was a commitment that was given and we were told they were funded positions. We are here to talk about the Estimates and the money allocated to do certain things. For budget 2021, I am asking what was the target and...
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: It was 6,149.
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: Is it fair to say it fell far short of the target and the funded positions that were provided for in budget 2021?
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: That is the point. I suggest it was in the region of 7,000 or even 8,000 but the Minister might provide us with the actual figures. In budget 2022, am I right in saying the target was 10,000 additional staff?
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: Does the Minister believe we will reach that target?
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: I will come back to the Minister later with other questions. It is impossible to deal with everything in ten minutes for Revised Estimates so I will come back on some issues in the second round.
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: Would I be right to say it was 14,700? Some 16,000 was the figure announced on budget day and then a figure of 14,700 emerged.
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: I thank the Chairman. I want to make one broad point first and I then have a number of specific questions on targets that were set. Equally, specific issues are referred to in the Minister’s own briefing document. As I said earlier, it is very important to set ambitious targets. I would hope, if I was in the same position as the Minister for Health, that I would want to push the...
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: How much of that is additional funding that was not budgeted for?
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: At the end of last year, I attended CHI and was given a presentation by the CEO. At that point, funding had been provided for a theatre expansion and scoliosis supports of €5.35 million. There were also to be an additional 24 beds for CHI, including eight beds that opened in Temple Street in January, a new MRI scanner, €1.9 million in funding for Cappagh Kids and more. Is all...
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: The question then is what is additional. It was announced that additional funding was being made available to enhance capacity. I understand some of it is to increase surgical theatre capacity to get more from the theatres we have. Very ambitious targets have been set, including reducing the number of scoliosis patients waiting for treatment from 94 to zero and the number waiting overall...
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: The Minister will appreciate the point I am making. I know it happens all of the time but, when an announcement is made, all sorts of funding that was already in place, including some that has already been spent and some that is already in train, is packaged into the new package of measures. People see €19 million in new funding coming for new measures when, in fact, the vast...
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: Some of that €19 million is one-off funding.
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: The Minister might send me a detailed note. Obviously, that funding needs to be made permanent and part of the baseline because there is no point putting in an injection of short-term funding. While that would, of course, help in the short term and while we need to get treatment for as many children with scoliosis or spina bifida as possible, we cannot simply provide funding for one year...
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: I agree with that but I have two other questions I want to ask and I know that others may want to come back in again. This is a very important issue because dentists are leaving the scheme. Regardless of their motivations or of the rights and wrongs of the matter, they are voting with their feet and are leaving the scheme in big numbers. The consequence of this is people are not getting...
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: Okay, but Deputy Donnelly is the Minister. We have had a session on this. I believe it was the middle of last year when we put a focus on the dental treatment service scheme. The Irish Dental Association and the HSE lead came before us. At that point, we were told this was a priority, but I have not seen any movement. What I am seeing is more dentists leaving the scheme. It is great the...
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: This is not about that funding pot. That is a separate funding pot for a separate issue. This is about the dental treatment service scheme, DTSS, contract. Dentists are leaving and children cannot get access to services.
- Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2022
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (24 Feb 2022) David Cullinane: I know, but dentists are not in the scheme. That is the point.