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Thursday 3 December 2020
The Irish Hospice Foundation has said investing in bereavement services and end-of-life care will benefit society as a whole.
A backlog is expected once the issue is resolved.
Minister Kathleen Lynch says she expected such concerns to be raised following the Áras Attracta case.
Most people would like their condition managed by pain medication though almost three-quarters have not written any kind of care directive or given an indication of what they want to family members.
The former junior health minister also says she could have worked with new minister Leo Varadkar.
The Irish Medical Organisation and Alex White will sit down about the plan to give free GP care to children under six.
White said the €37 million earmarked for the under sixes scheme was agreed in the Budget.
The authority has told the Irish Medical Organisation that any refusal to join Government-run health teams would break European law.
The former junior minister responsible for primary care says the recruitment budget is being gobbled up by overspending.
In a year when many families and communities lost a child or young person to suicide, it makes no sense that €29 million pledged to be spent on mental health was not used, writes Tanya Ward.
The plan includes an additional cut to primary care costs of €60 million, staff reductions of 4,000 and a promise to reduce waiting times.
Sinn Féin said documents suggested James Reilly discussed the specific site earmarked for a Primary Care centre in Balbriggan during a meeting with NAMA.
You may have missed these nuggets in the flurry of austerity announcements.
Documents obtained by Fianna Fáil show the government preparing to announce a list of 33 venues, not 35.
Micheál Martin has said he believes the Health Minister’s position is now untenable in the wake of further revelations about primary care centre locations.
The Psychiatric Nurses Association of Ireland called the move ‘primary care in reverse’.
The Health Minister insisted that “no specific address was mentioned” in discussions with NAMA in April of this year regarding the controversial issue of locations for primary care centres.
The Ceann Comhairle says James Reilly has fulfilled his Dáil obligations to answer questions from Sinn Féin.
The Tánaiste says locating individual sites in towns put forward for primary centres was done by the HSE.
The Health Minister faced more questions about the selection of two sites in his constituency for proposed primary care centres in the Dáil this afternoon
5 minutes, 5 stories, 5 o’clock…
Ruairí Quinn says the Troika are the only people who will affordably lend to Ireland – so what they say goes.
The Health Minister gave a strong defence of his conduct in relation to the selection of sites for primary care centres, two of which are in his constituency.
The Ceann Comhairle has permitted a ‘private notice question’ to be tabled by Sinn Féin for discussion later this afternoon.
Enda Kenny says a report outlining a possible ‘two tier’ child benefit system have not yet been brought to cabinet.
Fianna Fáil has tabled a “special notice question”, seeking an urgent explanation from James Reilly on his selection criteria.
The former minister of state said her resignation was coming for some time.
The Minister for Health seeks to turn the tables – suggesting Róisín Shortall had used strange criteria to rank potential venues.
The Health Minister has commented on the news that Alex White will replace the departed Róisín Shortall who Reilly thanked for her ‘hard work’.
The Dublin South TD will be nominated to fill the vacant junior ministerial position at the Department of Health next week.
The Minister for Social Protection says every member of government “has confidence in every other minister”.
The letter was released last night and details Reilly’s explanation for expanding the lost of 20 sites for proposed primary care centres to 35, an issue which has in part led to Shortall’s resignation.
The Minister for Health showed little disappointment at Róisín Shortall’s resignation – who the Labour chairman said had the full support of party leadership.
The Labour Party TD’s decision follows a much-publicised dispute with the Health Minister James Reilly. She has also resigned the Labour Party whip.
Last week, Minister Reilly had to defend his decision to consider two of his constituency towns for new primary care units.
The transport minister tells The Week in Politics that James Reilly’s amendment of the list for primary care centres does look suspicious.
5 minutes, 5 stories, 5 o’clock…
James Reilly added Swords and Balbriggan – both in his constituency – to a list of venues being considered for primary care centres.
There’s money to build two bundles of 10 facilities – but 35 towns are in the running, so there’ll be a competition.
An application for a €50 million annual building allocation for primary care centres will be made, says the Minister of State for Primary Care Róisin Shorthall.
THIS YEAR HAS given us a lot of unexpected things, but one of the bigger cultural changes of 2020 has been the wide-scale move to working from home.
Writing in TheJournal.ie today, Arlene Vithaldas of the UCC Academy argues that it’s time for society to change its view of a workplace that includes commuting to offices.
Some people have found that working from home has given them more time, because they don’t have to commute both ways or end up getting stuck in the office after hours.
However, others miss the collaborative nature and social aspect of being in the office, as well as the chance to regularly be in urban centres where offices tend to be located.
Today we’re asking: Do you enjoy working remotely?
Poll Results:
Share your story: voices@thejournal.ie
A couple of morning showers
Max: 4 °C
Min: -1 °C
Variable clouds, showers around; chilly
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Partly sunny with a couple of showers
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Min: 1 °C
