Results 10,041-10,060 of 26,394 for speaker:David Cullinane

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: Did the scheme fail?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: Teachta Carthy made the point that the Department did not anticipate that the scheme would fail, but it did. How is it that nobody in the Department was able to identify that the scheme was flawed and would not work?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: Part of the problem was that there was announcement after announcement by the Minister in particular that a scheme would be put in place. That raised people's expectations that a scheme that was going to work would be available. However, as we know, the scheme failed. Is it not the case that the expectations of front-line workers were raised? Dr. Lynch stated that his staff put...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I acknowledge that. Dr. Lynch earlier discussed identifying the risks. Was a formal risk assessment carried out? If so, could any existing documentation relating to identifying those risks be provided to the committee?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I ask Dr. Lynch to carry out that trawl and pass on to the committee any additional information relating to the risks that were identified. I think Dr. Lynch is stating is that there are two elements to the expert group that is examining the funding model, that is, the immediate and the medium to long term. Is the group looking at funding a State-led early childhood education system? Is...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I shall return to the points made by Teachta Barry earlier, which were acknowledged by the Secretary General in terms of the report by the Oireachtas Library and Research Service and its critique of the sector, the lack of funding and all of the other challenges. Ms McNally has said that her Department has modelled a fully State-led system. She also said that the range could be between...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I am finished. Does any Deputy wish to avail of the remaining three or four minutes?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed). (23 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I thank our witnesses today for their attendance and for the information provided for today's meeting. I thank the Secretary General and his staff for a very frank engagement, which was very helpful. Is it agreed to request the Clerk to seek any follow-up information and carry out any agreed actions arising from the meeting? Agreed.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I welcome our two witnesses. I again thank both of them and their staff for their service in what is still a difficult and challenging time. I commend Mr. Reid for his commitment to look at changes in protecting older vulnerable people. This might come down the track. If there are positive changes, he will certainly have the support of my party. I want to ask some questions of Mr....

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: Was there not a plan in place for acute hospitals? I commend the Department on it. I had very high-level engagement with the management of University Hospital Waterford in early March. It had a plan in place that involved shifting staff out of the hospital to a private hospital. It involved freeing up beds for Covid patients. In fact, we did not need the capacity in the end because of...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: The question, then, is whether there should have been a comprehensive plan. Mr. Breslin himself talked about the consultation and engagement "from the off". Maybe he will be able to enlighten me on what he meant by "from the off". I refer to when we first became aware that the virus was a real problem. Mr. Breslin says consultation and engagement were evident "from the off". First, when...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I am not asking the witness to look back with the benefit of hindsight. I have said on previous occasions that people like Mr. Breslin and staff in the HSE were in a very difficult position when a virus came at us very quickly and real decisions had to be made in real time. Everybody accepts that, but we read hundreds of pages of correspondence, including emails, from March that seemed to...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: With respect, the Nursing Homes Ireland representative may have said all that but he also said that the sector was exasperated, that it felt let down and that it was put in a very difficult position when, as he put it, nursing homes were "crying out for help" in a range of areas and that support was not forthcoming. I think what he was saying was that in the latter stage, from March onwards,...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: -----but prior to that, there seemed, from the perspective of the sector, to be real difficulties and challenges.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I will use one of Mr. Breslin's own analogies from a previous meeting in putting my next question. Does he believe that the HSE and the Department sent enough firefighters to support the residents of nursing homes? Does he accept any level of the commentary - criticism might be a strong word but, certainly, there were strong assertions - from the nursing home sector that there were real...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I thank Mr. Breslin. I want to put one quick question to the HSE representatives if I can. It is not Covid-related but a response might be given to me in writing. A question was raised by Deputy Shanahan at the latest session in regard to the second catheterisation laboratory for Waterford. There is a bigger issue here concerning the national review of cardiac services. That review has...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I thank Mr. Reid.

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (Resumed) (17 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I am sharing time with Deputies Ó Murchú and O'Rourke. Listening to Deputy Cowen, it is unusual to hear Teachtaí making what are programme for Government speeches on the floor of the Dáil even before the programme for Government has been accepted by the membership of their political parties. It is an unusual departure. It is also interesting to hear Deputies MacSharry...

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (Resumed) (17 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: When they record that, are reports then done on what the average rating might be for Government Departments? How much was spent on retrofitting Government Departments in recent years, even over the lifetime of the last Government, to improve the energy rating of Government buildings?

Climate Action and Low Carbon Development: Statements (Resumed) (17 Jun 2020)

David Cullinane: I accept that because the Minister is not really responsible for this matter and the Minister who is responsible for it cannot be here but my point is that this is meant to be a new departure in how we hold Government and Ministers to account on climate action. It is the transition statement on what Government Departments and agencies have done to mitigate climate change. One of the core...