Results 1-18 of 18 for other and baby speaker:Kate O'Connell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Oral Health Policy: Discussion (15 May 2019)

Kate O'Connell: ...before the committee. Back in my days spent working in Dublin City Council, I worked with a few of them in the context of fluoride being in the water supply. For the benefit of the public and the committee, will they speak briefly on the role of fluoride in the water supply and the risk that removing it would pose, with specific reference to oral health inequality and the difference in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Services for those Living with a Neurological Condition: Discussion (8 May 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I apologise for my late arrival. I had another engagement. I will briefly touch on the valproate issue. I am a pharmacist by profession and have been dispensing valproate for years. We talk about awareness of the side effects and when they happened and so on. In terms of where we go from here, women with epilepsy who want to have a baby have an additional requirement for folic acid. It...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed) (19 Dec 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for their submissions and for all the information they have given. I hope we can take on some of their recommendations as they are experts in this field. It is easy for those of us who have children not to take into account people who get married in a same-sex relationship, or otherwise cannot have children. There is a certain amount of ignorance in this area but, as...

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (5 Dec 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Reference has been made to abortion regret and the Women Hurt group. It was offered a slot at the Citizens' Assembly but allowed an American pro-life group to take its place. The Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, of which I was a member and all meetings of which I attended, heard from an expert on abortion regret, Dr. Abigail Aiken. There is no point having a...

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Report Stage (Resumed) (29 Nov 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I support what Deputy Harty has just said. Perhaps those Deputies who have spoken to these alleged survivors of botched abortions in other jurisdictions would take a trip to one of the special care units in one of our maternity hospitals where every day, every effort is made to preserve life. I have witnessed a case of a woman's life being at risk. A very good friend of mine had a baby...

Select Committee on Health: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (6 Nov 2018)

Kate O'Connell: The discussion on this has been a good one. I see completely where the Minister is coming from. The 28 day period is a sort of line in the sand. We heard a lot of evidence at the committee about the complexity of fatal foetal abnormality. It may not involve only one serious neural tube defect such as anencephaly, which is an obvious fatal foetal abnormality. One could have a number of...

Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Second Stage (4 Oct 2018)

Kate O'Connell: ...it meant so much each time it was said. It is a long road that has no turning. There are many people in here who never thought we would get here. We are on the cusp of legislating for free, safe and legal bodily autonomy and healthcare that puts women at its centre, not at the margins like a forgotten and irrelevant host. Along the journey to today there have been moments that shook...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Business of Joint Committee
General Scheme of the Patient Safety Bill 2018: Department of Health (26 Sep 2018)

Kate O'Connell: The important thing is that the Bill should be fit for purpose. I am concerned about the emergence of a two-tier reporting system. I refer to page 8. I do not understand why there is not one system of logging errors. Going back to the Scally report, it reminds me of where there was a cancer registry and the CervicalCheck list. I wonder why we would have more than one list for logging...

Referendum of 25 May: Statements (Resumed) (31 May 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I thank the Irish people for the resounding "Yes" vote they cast as a nation on Friday last. We have come so far since 1983, when the pulpit ruled and we were subjected to the threats and fearmongering of a vengeful creed. Looking back now, it is hard to imagine that Ireland back then was very different from the modern, globalised and informed country we have today. An information deficit...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (9 May 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I wish to follow on from Senator Burke's comments. My understanding is that in Portiuncula there is no proper 3-D scanning unit, or whatever it is called. I refer to the fancy scan a woman gets at 20 or 22 weeks. About a year ago this committee heard from Professor Louise Kenny from University College Cork. She outlined that the anomalies pop up in the population group where one would not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Business of Joint Committee
Foetal Anti-Convulsant Syndrome: Discussion (25 Apr 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I thank all present for attending, particularly the witnesses and the parents of affected families. My view is that, regardless of the causes of the conditions the children have, the State has responsibility to assist those children and their families. I am a community pharmacist. I have dispensed valproate for years and have long been aware of the congenital issues with the prescribing of...

An Bille um an Séú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht 2018: An Dara Céim - Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018: Second Stage (9 Mar 2018)

Kate O'Connell: Last week in this country we experienced an act of God. I refer to Storm Emma. We had four days of bitter ice, cold and snow. Who did that weather and that act of God leave out in the cold, both figuratively and literally? Women again, as it is always. Between 36 and 48 women either had to cancel expensive flights, hotel rooms and appointments in the UK or reschedule them because of an...

Third Interim Report from the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes: Statements (Resumed) (7 Mar 2018)

Kate O'Connell: When we were children - six of us growing up in rural Ireland in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s - our mother would threaten us that she would send us to Daingean if we did not behave. We did not know what happened in Daingean, which was about ten miles from my house in the midlands, but we had heard that behind its high stone walls, terrible things happened to bold children. We did not know...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026: Discussion (21 Feb 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for all they do every day and I thank them for coming before the committee this morning. How we read this document depends on through what lens we look at it. Through the lens I am looking at it now I see the use of the word "women" and "mother" throughout the strategy. In acknowledgement of equality in Ireland, and out of respect, perhaps we could change that to...

Report of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Statements (Resumed) (18 Jan 2018)

Kate O'Connell: I am going to start by reading Lorraine's story in her words. It was first published almost 20 years ago at the turn of the millennium.I was 34 when I was widowed. My husband died in an accident. I had four children, from fourteen to four years of age. It was a terrible time and I never thought I’d get through it - the older kids took it very hard. My family were a great support,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Risks to Health, Including Physical Health, of Pregnant Women: Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, Dr. Peter Boylan and Dr. Meabh Ní Bhuinneáin (18 Oct 2017)

Kate O'Connell: ...process, then we are going down the right road in this committee. We are trying to deal with the issue of the almost 5,000 women travelling to the UK. I was on a flight home from the UK last week and as I walked up the aisle, I wondered who on the plane was travelling back. What we should be trying to achieve at this committee is the provision of appropriate maternity care for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill 2016: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Apr 2017)

Kate O'Connell: I welcome the witnesses. I am a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and I have two retail pharmacy businesses registered with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland. I am obviously a pharmacist. I will refer to the access programme before I look at the Bill, and perhaps somebody from the Department could outline this matter very clearly to us. My understanding is - perhaps I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Maternity Strategy: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Feb 2017)

Kate O'Connell: I am sure the witnesses do not have to think too much about the last question. The statistics provided by the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists indicate 36% of women attending ante-natal services in Ireland have no 20-week scan. Could the level of potential adverse events as a result of that lack of scanning be extrapolated? Perhaps the witnesses could discuss the...