Results 1,881-1,900 of 6,065 for speaker:Martin Conway

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: So there will be no respite facilities for people in east Cork. If they need respite, they will have to go at least an hour away from home. These people may just need respite to give their families a break or so their treatment can be reviewed. A multidisciplinary team, as Dr. O'Brien mentioned, may recommend that they need respite. If that happens, they are in a situation where the HSE...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Closure of Owenacurra Centre: Engagement with HSE (14 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: I am flabbergasted. I think colleagues on the committee are flabbergasted. There does not seem to have been any empathy shown in the decision to close the Owenacurra centre. I agree with colleagues who have spoken. This is not going away. I do not know how the committee will proceed but we may need to talk to the Mental Health Commission again. We need to do something. We cannot allow...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: It would be appropriate to give the Minister five minutes to outline them and that it would not eat into Deputy Cullinane's time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: To be honest, it is bad practice.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: I am glad the Minister acknowledges it. It is terrible.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: Chairman, may I take my slot, please?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: I have just been sidelined.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: Yes. That means a precedent has already been set, and that is just one example I can think of. A precedent has already been set within the Department of the Minister appointing a chair. It is a ridiculous argument. The Minister has said the hope is for a chair to be in place by early January. Going through a tendering process, there is surely to God a period in which people can respond....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: Has that been checked with the Attorney General? Has a second opinion been sought?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: I hate to be difficult but even at the start of this committee we did not have the terms of reference. They are available now. We really did not have time to study the terms of reference in order to have a meaningful engagement on this. The Minister gave an assurance earlier, indicating it was his hope and intention that the chair would be appointed by early January. Going through an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: There has to have been a way around this. There is a departmental budget of €24 billion and surely to God this is something so important to the health of the women of Ireland that a way around this should have been found. Perhaps the problem is the Department is completely knotted up in legality and it is possible this is why it is not achieving what it would like to. I am not going...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: Will he come back next week for further engagement?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: On that point, I should state that I never once questioned the Minister's commitment or the effort he puts in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: While I appreciate that, I ask the Minister to give us a timeline for each of those steps. He said the legislation has gone for priority drafting. When will that step conclude and the next step start? When can we expect the legislation to be before the committee? The dates are important.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: We are talking about an absolute final date of the end of March. Is that fair?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: That is fine. I thank Ms Luddy.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: I fully accept that once the legislation has been referred to the committee, the timeline will be somewhat out of the Minister's hands. However, a clear commitment has been given this morning that the heads of the Bill will be referred to the committee by the end of March.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: I welcome that commitment.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: That is fine. This is a crucial point. I welcome the Minister, Ms Luddy and the other officials. When the task force on vaccination was set up and Professor Brian MacCraith was being appointed, was a tendering process gone through?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Scope and Structure of Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act: Engagement with Minister for Health (8 Dec 2021)

Martin Conway: On the legislation to provide for safe zones, this matter needs to be dealt with. We have seen what has happened to politicians recently. It is very similar to what is happening around facilities where terminations are being offered. That is not acceptable and needs to be dealt with urgently. Women who are going through a difficult period and the trauma of going for a termination for...