Results 10,981-11,000 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Good.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: If I may, we need to be very careful with our language. I want to be clear. The proposal was that he got not one penny more in his wage.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy might bear with me. I think it is important because it speaks to Dr. Holohan's reputation. He was a fine public servant who I had the opportunity to work with in a very difficult situation. I do not believe it would be a fair characterisation to say Dr. Holohan would benefit from this. Dr. Holohan's salary was not going to change. Nothing was going to change. Had Dr. Holohan...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Great.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I bow to the Deputy's server in the cloud-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I will give my very pedestrian explanation and then I might askMr. Wright to give a more technically competent explanation. We arrived in Texas. We were there for about a week around St. Patrick's Day. I was told, I believe by my private secretary, that a question was raised about whether my laptop and phone had been compromised. We were told to turn them off and not turn them on again....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: While I was in America, that was the case. When we came back to the Department, it gave me a replacement laptop.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I am afraid his understanding of emails and how they work is probably a question best directed to him. If I may give my view, the Secretary General knew that I did not have access to email for the entire time I was in America. Therefore, I think he did not send me an email. It is probably that simple.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: It sounds like a very peaceful week. We did not have access to email. The two ways that I access email, as I am sure the Deputy does, are on my phone and computer. We turned them off and did not turn them back on again. I would need to check, so do not take this as gospel, but I believe everyone who was there in our party was also complying with the same orders

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I will make one quick procedural point with the Chair's indulgence. I am happy to answer the questions today and that is why I have asked two officials to come along. We will do everything we can to answer the questions. The Joint Committee on Health would normally view health capital projects to be within its remit. I assure Deputies that the Department of Health appears regularly before...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I fully understand. I will give my view and that of the Government and then I will ask Mr. Tierney whether he wants to add to that. The only schedule of works to which the Government and I have agreed provides that the contractor will hand over the hospital in March and that Children's Health Ireland, CHI, will have six months to complete its commissioning. As the Deputy correctly...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I ask the Deputy to bear with me. There is talk about a different schedule of works. Mr. Tierney will be able to confirm it. I believe BAM has submitted a separate schedule of works that provides for completion in May. However - this is important - the board has not accepted that schedule of works and has not shown it to me. Why would the board do so if it has not accepted it? We all...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, there have been numerous talks. They have dispute resolution mechanisms which no doubt the Deputy is familiar with. I can ask Mr. Tierney to explain them if that is useful. Numerous talks and rounds of talks have taken place and, as the Deputy referenced, claims can be escalated to the courts if everyone continues to dispute them. There is a significant number of claims with a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: There is an ongoing discussion. I am aware that a letter from architects raised questions around some of the operating theatres. My understanding is that there are questions about the heights of some of the rooms. All I can say at the moment is that there is ongoing engagement with the board about that. Mr. Tierney can correct me if I am wrong, but as of the last few days, my...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: As I am sure the Deputy appreciates, and I honestly do not say this in an effort to be glib, as Minister for Health, I do not inspect the airflow or look at technical reports on the airflow within individual operating theatres, nor would Deputy Doherty expect me to. I know he is not suggesting that I would be involved in the design of a hospital to the level of the airflow parameters within...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: If it okay, Chair-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Could Mr. Tierney add to what I said?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy has said a lot and made a lot of assertions, many of which are verifiably false. Rather than trying to address all of the statements he made-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Honestly, I would need to go back and look at the blacks afterwards. The Deputy made about 15 definitive statements, most of which are verifiably false.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Public Sector Secondment: Minister for Health (22 Jun 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy made several definitive statements that are his characterisation of what has happened. The assistant secretary has clearly stated that what the Deputy said in several cases is not true.