Results 1,321-1,340 of 6,783 for speaker:Seán Kyne

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Welfare and Safety of Workers and Patients in Public Health Service: Discussion (8 Feb 2023)

Seán Kyne: I am sure there will be continued debates on staffing and we are all trying to work to achieve that. Irrespective of staffing, there is no excuse for an assault on any staff member within the health service or any other service. I accept that people are frustrated due to delays but there is zero excuse for taking that out on staff, and that should be a given. We have discussed workforce...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (2 Feb 2023)

Seán Kyne: The general scheme of the registration of short-term tourist letting Bill is undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny at the moment. In his opening statement on 25 January, the principal officer at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage stated: As the committee is aware, large numbers of properties have been withdrawn from the long-term rental market in recent years for use as...

Seanad: UL Hospitals Group: Motion (1 Feb 2023)

Seán Kyne: I welcome the Minister. I acknowledge my colleagues, Senators Conway, Byrne and Ahearn, for tabling this comprehensive Private Members' motion. It is unusual to have such a specific regional topic brought before the Houses. It is important to acknowledge that, because the Fine Gael group decided to use its slot, which comes up every number of weeks, to highlight a specific hospital in a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Cancer Treatment Services: Discussion (1 Feb 2023)

Seán Kyne: I welcome the team from the HSE. Let me give the testimony of an individual I know. We will call him Paddy. He is not even 50. A number of years ago, he was not feeling well for about three months and eventually asked his partner to ring the doctor to make an appointment. She rang the doctor and the doctor said Paddy was no longer a member of the practice. She said Paddy was but the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Cancer Treatment Services: Discussion (1 Feb 2023)

Seán Kyne: Is there a difference between men and women? Anecdotally, men are less likely to get regular checkups? Is that in fact true? Is there a change or improvement?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Cancer Treatment Services: Discussion (1 Feb 2023)

Seán Kyne: Reference was made to a welcome fall in the mortality rate, which is likely to be attributable to a combination of factors, including reduced incidence, earlier detection and better treatments. Reference was also made to the importance of tobacco controls. Is Dr. Faul concerned that this trend is reversing somewhat among younger people now? Are the controls declining in impact, even though...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Cancer Treatment Services: Discussion (1 Feb 2023)

Seán Kyne: I am from Galway. The incidence of certain cancers is higher in the west than for the rest of the country, on average. Professor Michael Kerin and others have plans for a new cancer centre, with over 220 beds, on the grounds of University Hospital Galway as part of the national development plan. I am sure the HSE is aware - I can see our guest nodding - of those plans, supports them and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Cancer Treatment Services: Discussion (1 Feb 2023)

Seán Kyne: I certainly welcome that the HSE is fully supportive of these plans. They have been talked about for a long time. It is important now they are advanced through the system in relation to the cost-benefit analysis and the planning applications, which are outside the control of circumstances or whatever. It is absolutely vital that there is equality across the country and, through the work of...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (26 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: I thank the Cathaoirleach's office for selecting this matter for debate. I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on her well-deserved appointment. I know she will do a tremendous job. Ábalta Special School is a day school based in Parkmore in Galway for students with autism and complex associated needs. Students in the school range in age from four to 18....

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Special Educational Needs (26 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: I thank the Minister of State for the response. I acknowledge the interest shown by the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, in this matter and her meeting with the principal and stakeholders. The written response states that "the Department is currently assessing options with a view to identifying the optimum solution for the long-term accommodation needs" and that as part of this...

Seanad: Emergency Department Waiting Times and Hospital Admissions: Statements (Resumed) (26 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: I welcome the Minister, Deputy Donnelly, to the House. I do not have the passion of Senator Cassells on the matter this morning. While one person on a trolley is one too many, things have not been as bad in Galway this year as they were in previous years. There is a reason for this. The temporary emergency department in Galway opened in the autumn and it has improved the situation. It...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (25 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: I have called previously for a debate on the capital health plan. Many projects are in planning but we had a debate at the Joint Committee on Health this morning, not on capital infrastructure but on the unique health identifier, etc. The comment was made by the witnesses appearing before the committee that they will still need five, seven or eight years to develop that system even if they...

Seanad: Wind Energy: Statements (25 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: I welcome the Minister. In May 2020, his predecessor, Deputy Richard Bruton, announced seven offshore renewable energy projects that were designated as relevant projects. Before Christmas those projects received and were granted Ireland's first maritime area consents, MACs, from the Department, which is welcome. The Sceirde Rocks project off the coast of Connemara was included. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Electronic Health Records: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: I welcome Dr. Kennan and the other witnesses. I did not get an opportunity to say it in the first session, but I have often said to the Secretary General of the Department of Health that he is in a unique position given that he was previously Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure. It is important to know whether Mr. Watt stands over the refusal in 2018 of the business...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Electronic Health Records: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: Dr. Kennan mentioned a lady in the midlands. Thankfully, she was in a position to hand over her phone and to give the code of her phone to someone to open it and access her information. That same lady could have been in an accident, maybe unrelated to her incident. If she fell and banged her head, and was unconscious, she would not be in a position to do the very basics. What do the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Electronic Health Records: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: We passed the Health Identifiers Act in 2014. I remember speaking on it at the time. I thought this was the precursor for everything in terms of implementing this. When I go my local GP or speak to the staff on the phone, I am asked for my name and for my date of birth in case there is confusion, for example if there is somebody with the same name in the area. GP offices have all of a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Electronic Health Records: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: We have the 2014 Act that allows for identification numbers.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Electronic Health Records: Discussion (25 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: I assume it would be relatively simple to do this even at a local hospital. My GP is located outside of Galway city. I believe the emergency department or the Saolta Hospital Group in UHG could easily do this through the PPS number or whatever. It has been said that a PPS number cannot be used. Surely with permission from a patient, a PPS number could be used to access records. Simply,...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (24 Jan 2023)

Seán Kyne: I welcome you, a Chathaoirligh, to the Chair officially at the start of the season. I also welcome the new Leader and wish her well for the term ahead in the next two and half years or so. On numerous occasions I have raised the issue of Inland Fisheries Ireland. I thought I would not need to start the new year talking about Inland Fisheries Ireland, but unfortunately I do. Last year...