Results 10,721-10,740 of 74,100 for speaker:Bernard Durkan

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I have a text from somebody who asks how this will be put into effect and whether somebody pull a lever, throw a switch or plug in something to enable the winning of the game. Those are the texter's words, not mine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I thank Mr. Algeo. I will come back to that in the next session.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome the regulator to the meeting and thank her for her opening statement. Has she a response to an injudicious text I received from a constituent to the effect that he inquired whether some change would be made? He asked if a handbrake, lever or switch had been pulled or if some technical or IT change had taken place that might have brought this into focus in June and currently would...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Can Ms Boate advise the committee on whose initiative or by whose volition did it occur that a change would be made to make the major prize winnable? Did she approach the lottery operator directly or did the lottery approach her and when did that take place, if it took place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Members of the public have raised the issue of whether the technology surrounding the national lottery could be interfered with externally or hacked. If that is so, what prevention measures have been taken? For example, if the HSE was hacked, it is quite possible that somebody somewhere would attempt to do so with the national lottery, which has a rolling prize of €20 million or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: When did Ms Boate get that report?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Has the regulator ever made inquiries as to the amount rolling around in unclaimed prizes that seems to fall into the promotion of the lottery, which is a self-serving exercise, to encourage people to play more, spend more and, for want of a better description, invest more in the lottery?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Is Ms Boate happy with that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Is it not the case that the amount in unclaimed prizes is very substantial and is consistently so year after year? Does how that money might be used in the promotion of the lottery not cause some concern? It might be used to encourage more people to spend on the lottery, while at the same time it could be used as a means of preventing people from winning because of the particular system...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: For example, if money is used in market research and development, could some of that €17 million or €20 million, or whatever it is in unclaimed prizes, which is a significant amount, also be used to determine ways and means to ensure that there are less winners or less possibility of winning? It goes back again to my texter. He is obviously suspicious that there is a machine...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Issues Related to the National Lottery: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I have a final question. Who has access? Who are the custodians of that technology or mechanisms that are used to determine, by the ball system or whatever it is, who the winners are? Who has access to that? Where is it stored? Can people bring it home with them at night, for instance, when they are working from home or whatever the case may be? Will Ms Boate shed some light on that? I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome our guests and thank them for appearing before us. I congratulate and thank them for the work they have done over the past couple of years in particular but also on an ongoing basis. We must acknowledge that the public rely on them in the emergency situations to which they respond. It is appreciated. Apropos of the questions on capacity and so on that have been raised, the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: What is the rate of pay for a first-time applicant to the NAS or the DFB? It is becoming more difficult to source staff in services, manufacturing and almost all other areas of our economy. It is just a feature of the times. Will the witnesses indicate what the starter rates are?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: How often are the increments applied?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Do the witnesses think that the infrastructure in the ambulance services generally, including the number, quality and condition of ambulances, is in accord with what one would expect in an ambulance service responding to emergency cases and the need to be ready and in tip top order at all times? I refer to how the ambulance service works nowadays. For example, ambulances had to wait at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I thank the witnesses.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: I welcome the witnesses. I wish to return to a number of issues that were raised earlier. What is the simplest, quickest and most effective way to address the problem of waiting at ambulance bays at the hospitals for longer than expected periods of time?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: The first proposal will release crews but it will not release the ambulances. Crews are important. There is an acute shortage and difficulty in creating the necessary cover. What about the number of ambulances tied up in waiting bays? Is that at tolerable levels or does it create further problems for attendance at emergencies?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: How long will it take to go through the various procedures that have to be gone through and to do various consultations that have to take place? Can it be done before the end of the year? What is the situation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Ambulance Services: Discussion (15 Dec 2021)

Bernard Durkan: Given the total dependence on emergency services when an emergency occurs, in the event of a major catastrophe requiring the call-out of all services, is Mr. Morton satisfied that the ambulance service can provide sufficient services to meet the normal demand at the same time as meeting the extra demand?