Results 1-20 of 35 for 5 million speaker:Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

Social Welfare (No. 2) Bill 2019: Second Stage (Resumed) (13 Nov 2019)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...opportunities and limited ambition for those citizens living with a disability, and I will address this area in particular. The disability services budget did not start off as a balanced budget. There was a deficit of €16 million, and there is a deficit of more than €30 million hanging around the necks of the organisations that are publicly or part-publicly funded and...

Financial Resolutions 2019 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (10 Oct 2018)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...Disabilities, which was ratified last March, will be delivered any time soon. The additional funding announced yesterday will not even allow the disability sector to stand still. An additional €150 million was the grand total of the Government's announcements. Almost €60 million is immediately consumed by the €5 weekly increase in disability payments. I am sure most...

Financial Resolutions 2018 - Financial Resolution No. 4: General (Resumed) (11 Oct 2017)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...policy continues to ignore the needs and rights of those with disabilities. The Government is, of course, spinning this budget in as positive a light as it can. I accept and welcome the €5 increase to disability allowance but this will not come into effect until March. There is absolutely no reason people depending on social welfare should be forced to wait six months, until...

Nursing Home Support Scheme (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (26 Jan 2017)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...right is especially relevant for older people and the provision of support for older people is becoming increasingly important as our population ages. Ireland's elderly population is set to reach 1.4 million over the next 30 years. This obviously poses great challenges. However, I believe this should be viewed as an opportunity, with older people contributing to our society. The...

Hospital Emergency Departments: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members] (14 Jan 2016)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...I note that he acknowledges that Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil recognised in the preparation of our pre-budget alternative submissions the crisis in the emergency departments and each provided €86 million to address measures needed this year. Fianna Fáil, as it does, rounded it up to €90 million. Nevertheless, we had provision within our alternative address of...

Credit Unions: Motion [Private Members] (23 Jun 2015)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The Private Members' motion before us this evening lays out the size and importance of the network of credit unions across the State. With just under 3 million members and 400 offices, it employs 4,000 people and counts 10,000 volunteers among its anchor number. It is instantly comparable to the Gaelic Athletic Association, a very important organisation that exists for the betterment of...

Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2015: Second Stage (15 Apr 2015)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...care centres introduced to date and an even slower refocusing on the management of chronic disease in general practice, we have seen little of the radical change needed. We know that between 90% and 95% of the population are treated at primary care level. It is the side of the health service with which most of us engage. We know that if we wish to contain cost and remove pressure from...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 40 - Children and Youth Affairs (Revised) (3 Feb 2015)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...was prepared by the Department. There may be other figures that I have been able to link up in the limited time available to me. In terms of the Child and Family Agency, the Estimate for 2015 refers to a sum of €631 million and a 4.8% increase. The Minister's commentary mentioned a budget of €643 million and an almost 6% increase. Can he rationalise the discrepancy...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Children and Youth Affairs: Estimates for Public Services 2015
Vote 40 - Children and Youth Affairs (Revised) (3 Feb 2015)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: It is Vote 40 and I am referring to page 5 of the 26-page briefing provided by the Department in advance of today's meeting. I seek clarification as to the organisations and as to why grants part funded by the national lottery to these respective organisations, estimated as €910 million in 2014, are not now to be provided. There is a 100% discounting of these for this year. I will...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2014
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive (Supplementary) (9 Dec 2014)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I was somewhat surprised at the level of Supplementary Estimate being sought as announced towards the end of last week in that it is only €680 million rather than the amount speculated. I have no issue in agreeing to the Supplementary Estimate but I do have some specific questions for the Minister. First, the Minister in his concluding remarks accepted that this Supplementary Estimate...

Water Services Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (4 Dec 2014)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...entity, where it appears little or no thought is given to the fact that the taxpayer has to pick up the bill. Last month RTE showed us that the installation of water meters around the country had cost approximately €100 million more than the estimate given by Bord Gáis. Even this week, it has come to light that Uisce Éireann is spending more than €81,000 a week on...

Nursing Home Support Scheme: Motion [Private Members] (11 Nov 2014)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...approval under the fair deal scheme has increased by over 300%, which is a staggering number, since January of this year. As of 9 October last, some 2,182 people were approved for the fair deal scheme but were awaiting payment approval. Waiting periods now exceed 15 weeks. To add insult to injury, we have been informed by the HSE's performance report that 75% of people classified as...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Update on Child and Family Services: Child and Family Agency (25 Sep 2014)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...the outstanding point from my questions to Mr. Jeyes. In his reply to my question regarding a ring-fenced budget for post-leaving and after-care provision, Mr. Jeyes indicated a figure of €16 million. He did not indicate whether there was a ring-fenced figure for social worker training but said he had intended that there would be. Is there currently a ring-fenced training budget...

Financial Resolutions 2014 - Financial Resolution No. 8: General (Resumed) (16 Oct 2013)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...the other. Under the mysterious heading of "Medical Card Probity”, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and Minister of State Deputy Alex White have targeted a massive so-called saving of €113 million. When questioned at their press conference about this yesterday the two were unable to account for this figure. Where did it come from? How was it calculated? Nobody has...

Health (Amendment) Bill 2013 [Seanad]: Committee Stage (Resumed) and Remaining Stages (16 Jul 2013)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...of the day there is no doubt that it is for shrinking services. That is what we are looking at here. The Bill increases the daily charges for public inpatient services to acute hospitals from €75 to €80. If we consider the cohort of people who will be impacted by that increase, as I said in relation to section 11, the Minister might not think that extra is excessive but I...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 38 - Department of Health (Revised)
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive (Revised) (10 Jul 2013)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: This provides for a 20% reduction in the provision of moneys to tackle the drugs crisis in our society. The 5% reduction relates to both the Estimate and the outturn and it equates to €1.524 million. It is in no way reflective of the required response to the ever increasing threat from drug addiction in society demonstrating itself not only in the larger population centres, but...

Committee on Health and Children: Select Sub-Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2013
Vote 38 - Department of Health (Revised)
Vote 39 - Health Service Executive (Revised) (10 Jul 2013)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: The background to these revised Estimates is the austerity cuts regime, which has resulted in reductions in health spending year on year. A sum of €781 million was cut in this year's budget, more than €750 million in budget 2012 and an additional €130 million in August 2012, and all that followed a cut of €1 billion in 2011. Along with other colleagues, I have...

Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (12 Jun 2013)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: I move amendment No. 5:In page 6, line 41, after “determine” to insert the following: “but the total annual remuneration for each director shall be no more than €100,000”.I have consistently argued, as I do in amendments Nos. 5 and 12, for a cap to apply at the highest pay levels of the public service. That is hugely important in these economically...

Care Services: Motion [Private Members] (18 Dec 2012)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...ones to do so, but all have been dismissed by this coalition which takes its cue not from the Irish people but from the troika. We identified more than €1 billion that could be raised from wealth taxes and €365 million from a new higher rate for those on incomes of more than €100,000 per annum. If even a fraction of those measures had been introduced, the coalition...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion with Minister for Health (20 Nov 2012)

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin: ...difficulties, it is against a backdrop of reports that appeared both yesterday and over the weekend that further cuts are anticipated in the health budget, of the order of approximately €900 million. This is more than I had expected we would be obliged to face. Moreover, a further 3,231 staff are set to leave the service. Can the Minister confirm these figures? Can he comment on...