Cian O'Callaghan

Last week I raised with the Tánaiste serious concerns about breaches of the public-only consultant contract in the Rotunda, Cork University Maternity Hospital and University Hospital Galway. I acknowledge the excellent work done by my colleague, Deputy Rice, exposing these systemic breaches - breaches that pose a risk for public patients. A quarter of all work carried out a Galway University Hosp…

The question I am asking here is: what exactly is the system to monitor and ensure full implementation of the public-only contract? Clearly, there is a number of breaches around the country. They are arising one by one. What system has the Government in place to ensure this contract is being enforced? In relation to Galway, the Tánaiste seems to be okay with the situation that this breach will co…

Yes, but thank you for the encouragement. My amendment No. 3 is very similar to amendment No. 1 from Deputy Doherty. There is a slight difference in that I am being move generous in the timeline being afforded to the Minister to make this report. The fundamental point here is that the public has a right to know. They should get this information. I made the point on Committee Stage that, with NAMA…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 8, after line 34, to insert the following: “Report on NAMA managed properties 10. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, lay a report before both Houses of the Oireachtas that provides a table outlining all NAMA managed properties, their value at the time of their sale, compared to their current or most recent valuation.”.

In the Rotunda, there are consultants on public-only contracts receiving payments for delivering babies while covering for their private colleagues. On Tuesday, I told the Taoiseach that this was happening at Cork University Maternity Hospital, CUMH, too. The Taoiseach admitted that he did not know anything about this. Today, it has been reported in the Irish Independent that a long-standing profe…

There are patients waiting on test results who want answers in relation to lab work at University Hospital Galway. They want to know what is being done in terms of their test results, which they need a quick turnaround on. Their health and lives depend on a quick turnaround. They want answers as to what the Government is doing on that. The Tánaiste has not addressed that at all. He may say what th…

I asked about breaches.

Healthcare assistants in Northside Home Care Services do incredibly important work looking after the elderly and the community. They are paid just above the minimum wage, well below the HSE going rate. They took strike action in January and they have taken industrial action since, with work stoppages. They should not have to do this. They should be paid a fair wage that respects the work that they…

I all the Minister of State said, there was a complete absence of acknowledgment of the very real pain that people on low-to-middle incomes are under in terms of the price increases. If you look at home-heating oil, for example, and people who do not avail of the fuel allowance increase because they are above those thresholds and cannot afford those increases in home-heating oil, the Government do…

I move amendment No. 6: In page 8, between lines 7 and 8, to insert the following: “Report on impact of an energy credit 5.Within 3 months of the implementation of the new Mineral Oil Tax rates, the Minister shall produce a report on the impact of an energy credit of €400 for each household with an income up to €70,000 per annum.”. This amendment is about the need for targeted energy credits. …

I find it extraordinary that the reaction to the withdrawal of temporary supports on which people had relied seemed to come as a surprise to the Government and Ministers. People on a low income got a temporary support. To withdraw this support and not put a permanent support in its place was unforgivable. Disabled people on low incomes were absolutely reliant on those temporary measures. They were…

I do not want to take away from the investment in disability services, which was absolutely necessary and we have a distance to go there. It is good that progress is being made and it is long overdue. Disabled people make the point very strongly that they are not just people who use services. In fact, a lot of disabled people do not necessarily use services. They need to be able to live, survive a…

I am happy to let the Minister in again but I wish to press the amendment.

I put on record the strong support of the Social Democrats for this Bill. I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Ardagh, and all who have worked on this on a cross-party basis, including the Irish Cancer Society and the volunteers from that society. It is an excellent example of how this Oireachtas can and should work very effectively. We need to see more of this approach to legislation progre…

The board of the Rotunda has now said it will abide by national healthcare policy and ensure that consultants on public-only contracts are not breaching them by treating private patients. How confident is the Taoiseach that he can rely on what the board says? At the weekend, the Irish Independent revealed more concerning details of practices at the hospital. Consultants on public-only contracts wh…

-----delayed diagnoses for life-threatening conditions? What actions will the Taoiseach take to address this?

Clearly, this is an issue beyond the Rotunda. There are instances in Cork and Galway. There is an emerging pattern around the country of breaches of the public-only contract. The Taoiseach and the Government have a responsibility to patients and to the taxpayer to ensure that the contract is being implemented. He is clearly not aware of the different breaches around the country. The Taoiseach, the…

The Taoiseach needs to be transparent about what he is doing to address this.

What are you doing?

Yesterday, the Taoiseach laid out Ireland's priorities for the EU Presidency. He said: "Active support for Ukraine will be a defining priority for the Irish presidency." On Tuesday night, missiles rained down on the Kharkiv region bringing destruction, injury and death to the civilian population. One of those who lost their life was a 22-year-old pregnant woman. A one-year-old child was among thos…

Will the Minister answer my questions?

The facts on this have been established. Since the war began our exports to Russia have soared. That is one fact. The second fact is these exports come from a company where the majority ownership behind it is a Russian oligarch who is a close ally and supporter of Putin. The third fact that has been established by an independent investigation is that when these exports go to Russia they are being …

The key point here is that the school will have the numbers in the coming year. It will be above the threshold in coming year. All we need is a fix for this year. This was done before in 2020. The Minister for Education at that point intervened with a one-year fixed term contract. We are talking about the school being short one pupil last year. This is a school that has extra enrolments late every…

Incentivise.

I ask the Minister of State to ask the Minister, directly after this debate, about this matter. It was fixed in 2020 and can be fixed again, with a bit of common sense. We are all asking the Minister to do it. This school really needs it. It is a brilliant school doing great work with children facing a lot of challenges, and we just need her to go the extra mile and fix things.