Results 361-380 of 1,253 for speaker:John Crown

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 10: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: "6. To amend section 58C of the Act of 1970 by inserting the following new subsection:"(13) The agreement, referred to in subsection (1) may facilitate the modernisation of diagnostic services on a national basis including the instigation of pilot schemes, but may not require any general practitioner to be...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I welcome the Bill, notwithstanding the genuine concerns which prompted me to bring forward the series of amendments we have discussed. It is important to consider the context in which these provisions are being introduced. As we know, a draft contract was circulated to GPs earlier in the year. One could argue that this did not represent the Government's final position but was essentially...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 7: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “6. To amend section 58C of the Act of 1970 by inserting the following new subsection: “(13) The agreement, referred to in subsection (1) shall not be restrictive in terms of who might enter into it, excepting that they are a registered general practitioner who has a high competency in the...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 9: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “6. To amend section 58C of the Act of 1970 by inserting the following new subsection: “(13) No part of the agreement, referred to in subsection (1) shall require the general practitioner to prescribe a particular treatment regime to any patient.”

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 2: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “6. To amend section 58C of the Act of 1970 by inserting the following new subsection: “(13) The agreement, referred to in subsection (1) shall not include greater specification of the services to be provided by any general practitioner than is included in the GMS contract.”.May I speak...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 3: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “6. To amend section 58C of the Act of 1970 by inserting the following new subsection: “(13) The agreement, referred to in subsection (1) shall not require any general practitioner to perform annual, or otherwise periodic assessments of patients who are healthy.”.

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 4: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “6. To amend section 58C of the Act of 1970 by inserting the following new subsection: “(13) The agreement, referred to in subsection (1) shall be of continuous duration, modelled on the GMS contract, and shall not be a temporary contract between the Health Service Executive, or the Department...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 5: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “6. To amend section 58C of the Act of 1970 by inserting the following new subsection: “(13) No part of the agreement, referred to in subsection (1) shall set minimum requirements for practice premises.”.

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I move amendment No. 6: In page 7, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following: “6. To amend section 58C of the Act of 1970 by inserting the following new subsection: “(13) No part of the agreement, referred to in subsection (1) shall require any general practitioner to share any patient's medical information with anyone other than a medically trained professional for the...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2014)

John Crown: It is an honour for Seanad Éireann that the Minister of State made his maiden ministerial speech here. I cannot but note the near Shakespearean symmetry of him offering his ministerial maidenhood to the Seanad, the very organ of State which he and his party sought to amputate in last autumn's referendum. We wish Deputy Harris well in what will hopefully be a long ministerial career. I...

Seanad: National Treasury Management Agency Bill 2014: Second Stage (15 Jul 2014)

John Crown: We were always taught that pensions were sacrosanct, that they were different. A pension was a special kind of saving one made and certain rules applied in respect of it. One could not touch one's pension. If one experienced a very rainy day, one could not gain access to it. One could only access one's pension on a particular date that had been determined many years previously. In...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I am making a point. There was substantial misinformation last night arising from a practical and technical aspect of parliamentary procedure. The suggestion was made in multiple news organs last night that our successful insertion of a socially constructive amendment to this Bill would result in a delay in the implementation of free GP care by six months. I have looked into this and there...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I have a very specific and technical parliamentary request to make of the Leader. I seek clarification in the aftermath of the vote yesterday that resulted in the insertion of a fairly harmless amendment in the Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill. It is nevertheless an amendment which many of us see as critical in enshrining the principle of whistleblower protection. Let us be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health (10 Jul 2014)

John Crown: This matter has been voted on and dealt with. The amendment went through the next stage of the democratic process. Am I to understand the Minister of State, Deputy White, is to launch a legislative campaign to remove the amendment to protect whistleblowers? This country has been destroyed by its failure to protect whistleblowers in the areas of child care, the economy and so on. Is this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health (10 Jul 2014)

John Crown: I welcome the Minister, the Minister of State and the various officials. I hope this is not the joint committee's last meeting with the Minister in his current job, because he has been a reforming Minister with a radical agenda. He was, however, dealt a lousy hand on assuming office given the economic context at that time and the ferocious pressure the Government was under from...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Minister for Health (10 Jul 2014)

John Crown: It is very difficult not to be cynical about the process of politics. I add my support to Senator van Turnhout's comments on the amendment we tabled to the general practitioners Bill yesterday. This has been a case of misinformation, rather than a misunderstanding. It is being suggested to the press that our attempt to insert a rational and limited amendment in the Bill, which would have...

Seanad: Environmental Protection Agency: Motion (9 Jul 2014)

John Crown: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I support Senator Whelan and his colleagues on this motion. When I read the documentation he provided it sowed a seed of doubt in my mind about the adequacy of the current oversight arrangements. The Minister’s commitment to an investigation is appropriate. This should be an opportunity for concerned citizens and their public representatives to...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (9 Jul 2014)

John Crown: To spare my colleagues across the aisle from the embarrassment of being bound and whipped on a Bill which has to do with gagging, I ask for a walk-through vote.

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (9 Jul 2014)

John Crown: If I may offer some friendly advice to the Minister relatively early in his ministerial career, a career which I am sure will be a long and a distinguished one.

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (9 Jul 2014)

John Crown: He should not fall into the prevalent trap in history of misidentifying the public interest with the interest of a public body. Public bodies still behave in a corporate fashion for their own self-interest in all kinds of ways. The notion that uniquely in the whole tapestry of forces which shape our society that the only body of people capable of self-disinterest is the Civil Service is naive.