Results 17,421-17,440 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I join Deputy Danny Healy-Rae in acknowledging the extraordinary work that Kerry Parents and Friends Association provides. It provides critical services to adults with intellectual disabilities in the Deputy’s constituency, including day services, residential services, respite and outreach services. I am advised that the association has identified funding challenges to the HSE due to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I assure the Deputy, on my behalf, on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, who has responsibility for disabilities, and on behalf of the Government, the work the association in Kerry does is acknowledged and hugely appreciated. Over €13 million of funding from the Government is provided to the association for the fantastic work that it does. On top of that, it was one...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Departmental Funding (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: With regard to the funding for this winter, there is a service level agreement in place between the association and the HSE. This will be used with this section 39 organisation and all the others to determine their portion of the €60 million to €65 million provided just for the disability sector. That is a very significant amount. Broadly, the organisations will be able to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Dental Services (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The HSE public dental service provides care for children up to 16 years of age. It includes emergency care, a fissure sealant programme and care for orthodontics. There have, as the Deputy correctly said, been significant delays in the provision of these services. These were significant before Covid-19 arrived and, as with many other patient...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legislative Programme (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank both Deputies. I am more than happy to meet representatives of the AHR professional group. They are having important meetings with the officials at the moment. It is a technical matter, clinically and legislatively, and they are working through that. I gather they are having a good engagement. Of course, I am very happy to meet representatives of that group. In response to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It is being done organisation by organisation and, therefore, there is nothing that any individual has to do. The HSE is engaging directly with the section 39 organisations. It has service-level agreements in place with a great many of them. Through them, it is engaging with the organisations. The HSE is providing them with the criteria and identifying the organisations that qualify....

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I acknowledge that when we are trying to make a payment, which is a €1,000 tax-free payment that does make a difference to people, there is no amount that could fully recognise the work that people have done. However, it is a recognition and it is good by international standards, compared to what other European countries have done. There is no doubt that there are going to be workers...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legislative Programme (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his ongoing advocacy in getting the Bill across the line as quickly as possible. The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022 passed Second Stage in the Dáil in March, as he will be aware, and was referred to the Oireachtas Select Committee on Health for Committee Stage. The legislation encompasses the regulation, for the first time in this country, of a...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Legislative Programme (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I wish to make two points. The first is that in terms of what we want to amend, we have talked about surrogacy looking into the future, but there is also an issue about retrospective recognition, and parental recognition in respect of surrogacy arrangements undertaken prior to this Bill. That is something we have to do. I want that brought in, if at all possible, through Committee Stage...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The relatives of those who died deserve the truth. Ultimately, that is what they are seeking and they have every right to it. We have to deal with the reality in this country of what happens when public inquiries are set up. What tends to happen is everyone involved goes and gets lawyers. People go straight to the High Court and get injunctions stating they cannot be questioned and have...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I recognise the ongoing advocacy from the Deputies on this issue. I ask Deputy O'Dowd to reflect on a charge he has made here today. I do not think it is worthy of him. I take that charge very seriously and I ask him to-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. Like him and all of us, I take all of these lives seriously, regardless of anyone's age or anybody's background. That has nothing to do with it. I have met the families from Dealgan House and I have committed, and am happy to reiterate that commitment, to assist them in seeking answers to what happened to their loved ones. They have every right to that. The...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his question. To recognise their unique role during the pandemic, the Government announced the recognition payment for eligible healthcare workers. Eligibility guidelines are required. Those guidelines, as they apply to the HSE and section 39 organisations, are on the HSE website. I am happy that more than 124,000 workers have been paid. We are fast-tracking those...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I would like to express my sympathy against to all those who lost friends, family and other loved ones during the pandemic, including the many who were residents of nursing homes. Since the start of the pandemic, the national response has continuously evolved to take account of emerging evidence and lessons nationally and internationally. Throughout, there has been a specific focus on...

Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree in terms of capacity. The hospitals, Community Care and the HSE all said we need record levels of investment and we need to add record levels of capacity, which is exactly what has happened. By the end of this year, compared to the start of Covid-19, there will be more than 1,000 extra hospital beds in the system. We will have funded approximately an extra 250,000 diagnostic scans...

Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with that, with one caveat, which is that we have a long-term plan. The Deputy will be aware that as part of the waiting list action plan, the chief clinical officer, Dr. Colm Henry, is leading out on 37 new models of care. The Deputy and I have discussed the need for record investment in capacity, which is happening. However, I think we are also probably in agreement about the...

Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: Before I respond, I welcome to the Gallery the girls and boys from sixth class in the Harold School. When I made that comment, I was not referring to Sinn Féin, although I stand to be corrected. We all focus on the total number of people on waiting lists but my point, which I imagine the Deputy will agree with, was that the number that matters is the number of people who have been...

Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Like him, I recognise that there are challenges facing general practice in terms of capacity, including out-of-hours services, and importantly therefore for the people who matter in all of this, which is their patients and the communities they serve. Historically, out-of-hours services have been something that GPs have provided. We know that more...

Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I am very open to the idea of the HSE directly employing GPs. It is something we should pursue. We know there are some areas in particular that are affected, such as rural areas. For example, I am involved at the moment with an issue in certain parts of Galway concerning out-of-hours GP coverage. There is a role for directly employed GPs in some urban areas, in particular areas that are...

Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (20 Oct 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: We are in agreement that we need more GPs. It is relevant that the number of places for GPs has more than doubled in the past decade and we are continuing to increase it. That is going to go some of the way. In part, that will provide more GPs and more cover, which is needed and, in part, it will allow for a different work-life balance for GPs. What younger GPs say to me is that in the...