Tag Archives: Minister Stephen Donnelly

THE prospect of an elective-only hospital in the Mid-West has effectively been ruled out by the Minister for Health, who has confirmed that location for new facilities as Galway, Cork and Dublin.  With the main nurses’ union reporting 126 people on trolleys on a single day last week, concerns continue to intensify over health care provision in this region. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) described conditions as “inhumane”, and an expert is now to be deployed to examine the situation.  Overcrowding has led to the repeated cancellation of elective procedures with concerns over lengthening waiting lists. Against this backdrop, calls for a public electives-only hospital in the Mid-West have increased in recent weeks. The matter has been raised in Dáil Éireann by Deputy Joe Carey who described the provision of such a facility, in this region, as “critically important”. The Fine Gael member asked Minister Stephen Donnelly if he had discussed the need for an elective-only hospital with …

A PLANNING application for a €25 million community hospital in Ennis to replace long stay and short stay beds at St Joseph’s is set to be lodged by the end of this year, it has been confirmed. If given the green light, the 100-bed community nursing unit will be situated on grounds adjacent to St Flannan’s College. A design team has been put in place and have began an outline design phase of the project. The unit will include 88 single and four twin rooms, and four palliative care facilities. The project has already been included for funding in the HSE Capital Programme 2021. Details of the proposal were confirmed in response to a Dáil question put by Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey to Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly. In early 2016, a Capital Programme for Older Persons Residential Centres was developed and agreed with the Department of Health in response to the introduction of HIQA’s, National Residential Care …

A SHANNON GP has hit out the handling of circumstances around the health minister’s Covid-19 test last Tuesday the day it unveiled the new roadmap for living with the virus. Dr Yvonne Williams said that misunderstanding over who should isolate while a contact of theirs is awaiting a test result, smacked of “chaos and confusion”. “The advice is that while someone is awaiting results of a test, their household should restrict their movements,” she explained. “If someone has a positive test, then their contacts are advised to isolate.” On Tuesday, shortly after addressing a press conference on the Living with Covid-19 plan, Minister Stephen Donnelly felt unwell and contacted his GP to arrange a coronavirus test. Following that news, the cabinet, as well as Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Ronan Glynn, were told to restrict their movements as a precaution. The Dáil was then adjourned, at first for a period of one week, before being reconvened later on Tuesday evening. …

THE Clare-based chairperson of the Dáil committee on Covid-19 has described the prospect of legislating to give Gardaí the power to break up house parties as “tricky”. Deputy Michael McNamara called on government to make clear the rationale for new measures announced this week, which also include a reduction on numbers attending indoor and outdoor gatherings. “What is the basis of the current measures?” he asked, adding that Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly must come before the committee to explain the government’s thinking. In relation to the extension of powers for Gardaí, Deputy McNamara said that what was being proposed is still unclear. He also warned that Constitutional issues may arise. “I’m unclear, at this point, as to what exactly the government is proposing,” he said. “In general terms, under the Constitution, the assumption is that a Garda is an invitee at a person’s home. The household or ‘teaglach’ is inviolable. If Gardaí are asked to leave, they must do …