Results 10,421-10,440 of 12,432 for speaker:Louise O'Reilly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Health Care Issues - Crisis Pregnancy Management: Ms Janice Donlon, HSE (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: It was to do with the numbers. The number of women accessing abortion pills increases while the number travelling decreases, but the number of those accessing counselling remains low. I do not want to put words in Ms Donlon's mouth but, given that the services are very widely advertised and easily accessible for women and they are not accessing them, I am taking that as an indication that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: The purpose of this meeting is to engage with officials from the Department of Health and the Health Research Board, representatives from Age Action Ireland and the National Community Care Network and a health economist, Professor Eamon O'Shea, in respect of to the very important issues of rights, resources and regulation of home care. This meeting will be held over two sessions. For our...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: We will take questions in groups of three so I ask the witnesses to take note of them. Senator Conway-Walsh must leave in a few minutes so I will include her in the first block of question, if members are agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: Senator Burke is the first person on the list, then Senators Kelleher and Conway-Walsh. I said that Senator Conway-Walsh would be in the first block.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: The first block of questions is Senators Burke, Kelleher and Conway-Walsh.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: That is fair.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: We will take the first three questioners, including Senator Conway-Walsh, in the first block. We will proceed with Senators Burke, Kelleher and Conway-Walsh.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: I remind members and witnesses to ensure their mobile phones are switched off as they cause interference with the broadcasting of the meeting.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: Would Ms Spillane like to respond to the questions thus far?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: Is Ms Spillane suggesting the HSE does not provide services between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. or that there is a particular need between those hours that only the private sector can meet?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: We will get an opportunity to discuss the constraints on the voluntary providers later. As someone who represented home help staff in a previous life, I would count the directly employed home help staff in the HSE as among the most flexible in the workforce. I would question anyone in the HSE who might make that assertion. I will get a chance to ask my questions in a little while.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: There is a hybrid model in operation involving public, private and voluntary actors. Let us consider the value for money argument. For example, let us suppose every penny spent by the HSE was invested in front-line care. The same would be true of voluntary bodies, most of which are run on a shoestring and they do not have fancy offices or cars, though the large private agencies have shiny...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: That is what we were saying. Many people fit in the work of caring, which is work and should not be called anything else even if done for people we love, with other work and we need to make that distinction.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: That would be very helpful. There is a distinction to be made between those who do it and fit it in with other work and those for whom it is their primary activity.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: Sorry to interrupt. It is in the case that there is a marked difference in the hourly rate of pay and the rate charged between the private and public sector.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: I do not think it is huge, Senator, but I do not know, which is why I am asking.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: I am aware of that and I have examined it myself. I have come to my own conclusion but want to ask our witnesses to provide some more information.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: We will move on to the service-level agreement, SLA, as a mechanism to regulate and monitor. How does that work?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: Could we get all the questions answered and then we might have a chance for a supplementary?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Home Care - Rights, Resources and Regulation: Discussion (15 Nov 2017)

Louise O'Reilly: We will go through the bank of questions that we have and then come back to that at the end if that is agreeable.