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invited to give a commitment to pay home-support workers and healthcare assistants, at a minimum, the National Living Wage". The Minister of State's Government has abandoned trying to go next or near a living wage for all workers. What has it done for healthcare assistants … reach agreement ... in respect of pay and pensions" for the workers in the sector. It is within the power and the gift of the Minister of State to bring unions and those operators into a room and tell them they need to agree better terms and conditions

income over €2,600 from non-HSE sources; travel, accommodation and meals funding; shareholdings over €13,000 or 5% of a company; or gifts, property or services over €650. For public health employees outside the remit of this Act, section 17 of the HSE's national financial regulations … integrity. Nominal benefits must be disclosed to their line managers. In addition, the code of practice around the governance of State bodies advises against giving and receiving gifts or benefits that could affect judgment and that could reasonably give cause or be perceived to cause a conflict

State, Deputy O'Donnell, provided a comprehensive solution. I accept the argument is won with regard to the necessity of this legislation. What are we talking about? We are talking about making it mandatory for pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment suppliers to declare payments, gifts, donations … pill mills and all the rest of it. We are aware of the issue we have with prescribed drugs and narcotics in this State. We need to make sure we are playing on a level playing field and have a system that works. The biggest problem

help in preparing the legislation. The Bill seeks to make it mandatory for pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment suppliers to declare payments, gifts, donations and all other transfers of value made by them to healthcare professionals and organisations. In some cases, these payments create problematic conflicts of interest … public purse. The popular show "Dopesick" highlighted this to great effect in the context of the opioid epidemic in the United States. In Ireland, tens of millions of euro are paid to healthcare professionals and organisations each year by the pharmaceutical industry. While a voluntary register of these

prescribing behaviours of clinicians. Not only that, there are examples, including extreme ones, such as the OxyContin epidemic in the United States, where powerful, wealthy pharmaceutical companies influenced clinical indications in respect of pain. There are many examples where new conditions have been identified on the basis … have a special relationship with a sales representative or, worse, the company has treated us to X, Y and Z or certain gifts or benefits. From the point of view of the public purse, there is harm and damage. The risk is, if we are being flaithiúlach, lazy