Results 9,441-9,460 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I hear you. Thanks, Chair.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: As previously, I agree with the intent here. We are going to legislate and we will be doing so in a way that does not delay the intent of this Bill, including, obviously, the sale of vapes to minors. I hear Deputy Shortall, but we in government are responsible for our actions and we are held to account by the Opposition, rightly, for what we do. If the Deputy takes an action that I believe...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy and I have debated in this committee room many times. I find her comments utterly disingenuous and cynical. What she is doing is playing around with timing and words, which she is very good at, but ultimately what she is doing is potentially delaying a ban on the sale of vapes to children. She knows that is what she is doing. She is probably the most experienced person in the...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The advice given to me is that amendment No. 3 will hopefully not delay it, but the amendment that has just been voted on and this amendment would delay it.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The amendment we just voted on, amendment No. 4, would have delayed it.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: My advice is that amendment No. 3-----

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Amendment No. 6 would delay the legislation.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Amendment No. 6, which we are on now. Amendment No. 4, which we just voted on and amendments Nos. 7 and 8, and amendment No. 2. Amendments Nos. 1, 3, and 9 should not.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: My comments relate to amendment No. 4, which we voted on, and this amendment as well.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Deputy Shortall knows very well-----

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Amendments Nos. 7 and 8 seek to prohibit the advertising of nicotine-inhaling products, including online advertising. The amendments replace section 29, which prohibits advertising near schools and playgrounds as well as on public transport, and oppose section 30, which prohibits the advertising of nicotine-inhaling products in a cinema. The 2014 EU tobacco products directive prohibited...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, there are two separate risks with this proposal and, indeed, the other proposal if we are to do them in this Bill. The first, which we definitely know, is that this Bill will be delayed because we are legally obliged to go through the EU directive. It is also possible that the Commission would come back and say "No" on some of them. We had to go through a very significant process, for...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, I agree. In spite of our previous interaction, I agree with almost everything the Deputy is saying. It is simply a matter of timing on which we are disagreeing. We need to go further on advertising. The Deputy raised the issue of influencers and actually they are not regulated. It is a gap not just on this issue but more broadly. It is something we can talk to the media commission...

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, we will.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We will not do it by amending this Bill, but we can incorporate exactly that thinking in the new Bill. Again, if we incorporate it in this Bill, we will kick off a delay.

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Sorry, what was the Deputy’s question?

Select Committee on Health: Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2023: Committee Stage (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: On this point, what I was proposing was not to wait for the Bill. This was to make the point that there are quite a number of smoking cessation reports that have now come in. Several million additional euro went into the budget and various new things have happened this year. I was, therefore, going to propose that the officials do a report now and submit it to the committee for consideration.

Written Answers — Department of Health: General Practitioner Services (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: GPs are private practitioners, most of whom hold a contract with the HSE for the provision of health services. Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders. For GMS patients unable to locate a GP themselves, the HSE may assign an eligible person to be included on a medical practitioner's GMS list, in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Education (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: As the Deputy may be aware, following approval by Government on 13th December 2022, I was pleased to announce €9 million in additional supports for student nurses and midwives, €5.4m of which has been allocated to the HSE to introduce an enhanced Travel and Subsistence Scheme for eligible students while attending their supernumerary clinical practice placements. I would like...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (12 Oct 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: In January 2022 the Government announced a once-off, ex-gratia COVID-19 pandemic recognition payment for certain frontline public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. The payment of €1,000 is not subject to income tax, USC, or PRSI. The announcement also made provision for a pro-rata application of the payment. Eligibility criteria for the...