Results 41-60 of 2,744 for speaker:Ossian Smyth

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Congregated Settings: Nursing Homes (Resumed) (18 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: Is it planned to have physical contact between families and guests or visitors and residents?

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I would like to start with a question about queuing in emergency departments. The acute hospitals emptied during the pandemic. There was a determined effort to make space available in case of a surge, the discharge of patients into long-term residential care was encouraged and funded and meanwhile patients were not admitted because they were not presenting for fear of catching coronavirus....

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: Given the recent history, people in an acute hospital are naturally reluctant to be discharged to long-term residential care. That is now more true than ever. A particular problem arises with discharges. Elderly people are sent back to live with other elderly people. Someone who is cocooning will worry that somebody coming from the hospital may have coronavirus. It has become very...

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I am talking about the physical constraints in emergency departments where people are too close together or do not have beds or wards while they are waiting to go into the acute hospital. Beyond the physical constraints, however, are the recruitment problems. It is no good having a bed and a ward without staff. In the event of a second wave or another infection or coronavirus, we will need...

Emergency Bed Capacity: Statements (24 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I would like to ask the Minister about visitors to residential care facilities. Many people have not had a chance to have physical contact with their parents or grandparents since March. They can now see them through a screen but it is not quite the same thing. There is a balance between quality of life and infection control. None of us will live forever. The idea of keeping people...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I wish to start by asking about the cost per test. There is a marginal cost and there is also a cost for fixed capital, recruitment and everything else. In general, labs have an idea of how much each test costs. In simple terms, could Dr. Henry give me a number for that?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I would like to ask about the PCR equipment that was acquired, presuming that large additional quantities of such equipment was acquired and also that staff were deployed in respect of it. Is that equipment adaptable for use in respect of other diseases that may come along? Are they generic machines, as it were, that can be used with different types of reagent if another pandemic comes...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: What is needed to get staff skilled up to use the PCR machines? What kind of staff do we need for that? Do they need to be at PhD level or could one retrain clerical staff if needed?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I want to ask about testing at airports. One of my relatives who is an Irish citizen arrived in Hong Kong airport recently and was tested on the spot and kept in the airport for five hours until the results came back. There was a five-hour turnaround time for the test. The person was then confined to their home with a tracking device for a period afterwards. Are we going to test people...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: So it is under consideration. I just want to point out that it is actually happening in other countries. There is an international precedent for that, even if we do not go that far. In terms of antibody tests and serological tests, the science is advancing all the time, is there any understanding yet as to whether there is any point to being tested. I see that people can go to a number...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the witnesses for answering my questions. Thank you, Chairman.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Needs Education: Impact of Covid-19 (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: When the schools were closed in March, it was a blanket closure order. Every single school in the country had to shut, regardless of the type of school it was. That was the simplest thing to do. Obviously some schools are different, such as special needs schools. I am aware of children being taught in groups of two or through one to one tutoring. Clearly, the risk is different with...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I want to refer to the issue of geographic disparity raised by Deputy Carroll McNeill. I am glad there was an acknowledgement we are short of eight special classes in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown region alone. One of the reasons given was a lack of physical space for these and I want to know if there is any plan to resolve this in respect of the capital programme or temporary buildings....

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: Will any new spaces be available? With regard to the deficit of eight classes, will any of those be provided this year and is there a plan to bring that down to, say, seven or six in the coming school year?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I want to ask about the reopening of special schools and special classes in comparison with all the other schools. As we know, in March, all schools in the country were shut downen masse, regardless of how many pupils were in a class or what type of distancing was present. I guess this was a blanket approach to dealing with an immediate problem. However, in reopening them, perhaps we can...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I have a question about distance learning. Children are seeking to be taught by teachers over video connections. The representatives of Inclusion Ireland told us earlier that they estimated from their survey that 11% of homes with a child with disabilities did not have equipment such as a laptop or tablet to connect to and receive that education. The total number appears to be...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I thank the witnesses.

Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (30 Jun 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I would like to sincerely welcome Deputy Donnelly to his new role as Minister for Health. In opposition, he was both insightful and constructive. I hope and expect that the Minister will bring that insight and expertise to the continuing reform of our health services. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the former Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, for his service. The...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (21 Jul 2020)

Ossian Smyth: I thank Deputy Farrell for her question. I will give her the written answer and then she can ask questions to follow up. As Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform I have responsibility for the development of policy to ensure adequate expenditure oversight on capital projects and for public procurement. The public spending code is the set of rules, procedures...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Public Procurement Contracts (21 Jul 2020)

Ossian Smyth: It is much more than a review and report, which would be inadequate. The Deputy is right to refer to the PwC report from last year. Its analysis was that the national children's hospital involved a substantial overspend and it pinpointed an underestimation of cost. It made two recommendations. One was that we need to strengthen the rules of the public spending code. Further, it stated...