Results 8,041-8,060 of 24,567 for speaker:Róisín Shortall

Written Answers — Department of Health: Vaccination Programme (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: 908. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 283 of 9 September 2020, the National Immunisation Office policy on the availability of the HPV vaccine for an adult who has gone through a colposcopy and has received a prescription for the HPV vaccine from their consultant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26932/20]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Counselling Services (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: 909. To ask the Minister for Health the budget allocation in 2020 for the counselling in primary care service for each of the nine community healthcare organisations; the amount in each CHO budget for counselling therapists employed on an agency basis; the amount of the budget from 2020 left in each CHO; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26934/20]

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Business of Special Committee (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: My understanding was that representatives from NPHET were due to come in last week.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Business of Special Committee (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: For whatever reason, they did not. My expectation certainly was that they were coming in this week.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Business of Special Committee (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: This is the last week for this committee to meet and we had intended bringing in all the health bodies that are relevant in the context of dealing with Covid. I am quite taken aback that they are not here. I would like to know the reason. Today we are concentrating on testing and tracing. The HSE has a certain amount of information to provide to us, but many aspects of testing and tracing...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Business of Special Committee (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: What is the requirement to go into private session?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: I thank Mr. Reid and the rest of the team for their work and for their attendance. I have three questions initially and we will see how I get on with the time. Mr. Reid said earlier that the median turnaround time for testing and tracing for positive cases is 3.5 days. Is that for all testing and tracing or does he have a figure that relates to community cases only? My second question...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: Sorry, I missed that. What is the figure of €700 million?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: I thank Mr. Reid. I ask him to clarify the figure of €700 million he mentioned earlier. I am not sure as to what that relates.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: That is for next year. Is Mr. Reid sticking with the figure of €450 million for the current year?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: I find that hard to understand. As the Minister for Health stated that by early July, the figure spent to date at that point was €50 million, it is hard to understand how the figure of €450 million would apply.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: I would appreciate that. On the point about contact tracing, Mr. Reid stated that the public health teams had knowledge. Where is that knowledge in respect of where people may have picked up the virus held, and how can we access it?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: I appreciate that. However, given that we are told that decisions taken on this are evidence-based, where can we access that evidence based on the knowledge Mr. Reid has stated the public health teams possess?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: The evidence relating to what Mr. Reid referred to as the knowledge possessed by public health teams about the places of transmission. Is that set out anywhere in a paper or somewhere it can be accessed?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: It is encouraging that such knowledge exists somewhere but the difficulty is that we cannot access it. Is that evidence publicly available now, given that Mr. Reid has said that it exists?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: I thank Dr. Cuddihy. We get that information about settings where the virus is spread. The virus does not start in households or private homes, however. It is picked up somewhere. We do not seem to have the information - set down on paper anyway - about the places of transmission, namely where people pick it up and then bring it home. Professor Philip Nolan said recently that we do not...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: Did Dr. Cuddihy say he can make that available?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: It would be helpful if it were made available for the public to keep it with the message. Can Dr. Cuddihy undertake to do that for this committee?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: Can he do it this week?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Update on Testing and Tracing and Rising Incidence in the State (29 Sep 2020)

Róisín Shortall: That is welcome. Most of us were surprised that was not being done already. What was the reason for this? Was it because of resources, as Professor Nolan said?