Results 1-20 of 1,033,020 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Josepha Madigan OR speaker:Mary Butler OR speaker:Cian O'Callaghan OR speaker:Róisín Shortall)

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: I do, and I will keep it short. I thank the members for attending and for their support for this Bill. This legislation, when enacted, will achieve a number of aims. Through amendments to the Health Act 2007, it will strengthen the regulatory framework for residential care services for older persons, people with disabilities and children in need of care and protection. The first amendment...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: Two amendments on Report Stage, with the co-operation of the members.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Can members make comments now, because we will probably race through the sections?

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Yes.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: Will I respond now or should I wait until we reach section 13?

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I welcome this Bill, in so far as it goes but it is very limited. The Minister of State knows very well that so much more needs to be done regarding nursing homes. I find it hard to understand why she is only dealing with this very limited number of improvements to the inspection and oversight regime. For a start, she promised that a statutory right to home care would be introduced. That...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: No, I could not.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I intend to table an amendment on Report Stage. The Minister of State has opened the door on non-core aspects of this Bill given what she said earlier and I hope she might take time to consider that. She has given various promises about the Mental Health Commission taking on that responsibility. It is desperately needed, given the appalling state of children's mental health services. I...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputies for their comments. I acknowledge Deputy Daly is filling in for Deputy Cullinane. The right of entry for social workers under the safeguarding policy will be legislated for. The recruitment phase is at a very advanced stage to put in place a chief social worker in respect of the safeguarding piece we are bringing forward. The Deputy also asked about a care partner...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Róisín Shortall: When is the other legislation on the statutory right due?

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: That legislation is currently being worked on. We cannot have statutory home care until we have the legislative piece in place. The other issue raised was that of an amendment relating to the mental health Bill. That legislation is very close to publication. My expectation is that it will go to Cabinet on 2 July and be published that week. I want to introduce it on Second Stage in the...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Róisín Shortall: Does the proposed mental health Bill provide for the Mental Health Commission to regulate CAMHS?

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: Yes.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: On the Deputy's question on a pilot scheme in Limerick operated by the Department of Justice, the Garda and the Department of Health, with mental health services leading that, the proposal was that it would be trial. It is a diversion tactic to prevent people with mental health difficulties, especially those who have committed a low-impact crime, from entering the system. Last year, there...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: We will get the Deputy a note on that. On Kerry CAMHS, I do not have the note in front of me but the families of approximately 200 of the 240 children who had harm caused to them have entered the redress scheme. They are going through the system. It is non-adversarial. I can get the Deputy a note on the exact number. He has spoken specifically to north Kerry.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: We are currently doing a full look-back in north Kerry. That was a commitment I gave in cases where any of the audits threw up a situation where red flags were raised, and they were raised in north Kerry. As the Deputy knows, Dr. Maskey was not available and was not in a position to carry out a review after doing the first one. We found it hard to get somebody to do the full look-back, but...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: My understanding is that anyone who enters the scheme in good faith and signs the terms and conditions has received €5,000 initially, and subsequently up to €15,000. There are some individual cases-----

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Mary Butler: That is in the redress scheme. Some individual cases that have gone privately to court do not come under the terms of the redress scheme at the moment. I will respond to Deputy Shortall on the size of nursing homes and private nursing homes. This is something I was concerned about and we did a huge amount of work last year on a design guide for nursing homes, which has been circulated to...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Róisín Shortall: I want to make another comment.

Select Committee on Health: Health (Miscellaneous Provisions) (No. 2) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (12 Jun 2024)

Róisín Shortall: That is fine. The guideline of 85 beds is fairly reasonable.