Author Archives: Bodger

This evening.

Earlier….

This morning.

Oireachtas Health Committee.

Via RTÉ News:

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, has said there is no mechanism for any religious involvement, now or in the future, in either the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group or the New National Maternity Hospital.

….Committee members this morning will also have a statement from HSE board members Professor Deirdre Madden and Dr Sarah McLoughlin, who argue the hospital should be built on State-owned land, to ensure the separation of Church and State, and why they retain concerns about clinical independence.

Donnelly faces renewed questioning over National Maternity Hospital (RTE)

Meanwhile…

The Sisters of Charity are the main shareholders of the St Vincent’s Healthcare Group which the Department of Health said will be the “sole owner of the new hospital” which is planned to be built at the St Vincent’s Hospital site at Elm Park, Dublin 4

This afternoon.

Via Simon McGarr in The Gist: (full article at link below):

The Permitted Use the HSE can put the new hospital to is defined in the Lease as

“In relation to the National Maternity Hospital Area as a public hospital primarily for the provision of all clinically appropriate and legally permissible healthcare services, including research, by a maternity, gynaecology, obstetrics and neonatal hospital, and a range of related health services in the community and any other public healthcare service or services”

That creates a two step test for any use of the hospital.

1) clinically appropriate

2) legally permissible.

On Prime Time, Holles Street’s legal advisor said that she was originally very pleased at the insertion of the phrase “clinically permissible” into the agreement document and then that;

“We did not foresee that this would be taken and flipped.”

Ambiguity results in unexpected, unwanted or sometimes perverse-seeming interpretations being placed on the disputed phrases.

The Minister has said this phrase was introduced at HSE request. It can therefore be removed without damaging the deal otherwise.

It should.

Earlier: lease Of Life

The Gist: The Maternity Hospital, in brief (Simon McGarr, The Gist)

Yesterday.

Dail Eireann.

During Order of Business, Fianna Fail TD Willie O’Dea (above) raised with Taoiseach Micheál Martin Ireland’s response to the proposed international treaty on pandemic prevention and preparedness by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Once signed, the treaty will enable WHO’s constitution to bypass Bunreacht na hÉireann during a pandemic or other health emergency.

Mr O’Dea said:

“It has generally been accepted that Ireland’s response to the recent pandemic has been one of the most successful. At present, a WHO global pandemic treaty is being negotiated.

“My understanding is that the states which become signatories to this treaty will be ceding power to deal with any future pandemics entirely to the WHO and that the local government will be completely excluded from the situation.

“This is a very significant development. Has the advice of the Attorney General been sought as to whether the Government signing up to this will require a constitutional referendum?”

Responding, Micheál Martin replied:

“I will have to check that out in the first instance. I remember that Ireland was one of the proactive members in getting a global tobacco treaty under the auspices of the WHO, and we would have been co-authors of that legislation and key players in getting it enacted, which was to the benefit of healthcare.

“In terms of a pandemic, what is required is very strong global interaction and co-ordination among all the members of the WHO, which did not quite happen at the beginning in this regard.”

Earlier this month, pressed on the legal requirement for a referendum on this issue, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly told deputies:

“As provided for in the Constitution, the conclusion of an international agreement is an exercise of the executive power of the State in connection with its external relations and is therefore concluded by or on the authority of the Government,.”

So there.

Previously: What Can Your Country Do For WHO?

Senator Barry Ward

Yesterday.

Seanad Eireann, Dublin 2.

Fine Gael Senator and criminal barrister Barry Ward highlighted the stangnant fees and  surprising day rate for those working in his day job.

Senator Ward said:

‘It is not a secret that I am a criminal barrister and I still work in that sphere and receive criminal legal aid payments but I am not issuing this request out of self-interest. There is a sustained campaign by criminal barristers to deal with this issue because it is a serious issue for those practising criminal law.

“There is a misconception out there that barristers all do very well and that they are all wealthy. It is a popular thing to say and certain media outlets love to refer to the Four Goldmines but that does not apply to criminal barristers.

“Crime does not pay in that sphere and we do not work in the Four Goldmines; we work in the Criminal Courts of Justice on Parkgate Street., and in district and circuit courts throughout Ireland.

“This affects every county and community because the reality is that the amounts available to be paid under the criminal legal aid scheme were slashed at the time of the financial crisis in this country by between 30% and 50%, depending on the nature of the payment. It was a significant reduction in the pay available to people practising in the area of crime.

“We should bear in mind that they were already the worst-paid lawyers in the system, including solicitors, and then their pay was cut by that amount. Everybody took that pain at the time that it was necessary during the financial crisis and they dealt with it.

Civil servants, healthcare workers and people providing professional services also took that cut; it was across the board. Yet here we are ten, 11 and 12 years later and the only people for whom pay has not been reinstated is those practising in criminal law, including solicitors and barristers. Their fees remain at the level they were cut to after the financial emergency.

Senator Ward added:

“To put this matter in context, if a barrister appears in a District Court for a case then he or she is paid a rate of €25.20 for the privilege plus VAT for however long he or she works that day. It is also a reality that he or she will also have to wait for the solicitor to receive his or her payment before the split fee is passed to the barrister.”

Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Ossian Smyth replied:

‘Based on data put forward by the Bar Council of Ireland to date, there does not appear to be any compelling evidence that the reduction in fees since 2009 has led to significant recruitment or retention issues or to a shortage of counsel prepared to do criminal work to the extent that the operation of the criminal justice system is significantly hampered.’

Anyone?

Oireachtas.ie

This afternoon.

Shanghai, China.

Shanghai officials will over the next few days further restrict access to food and hospitals in some parts of the city, the most severe phase of its extended lockdown yet.

Via BBC:

Commercial food deliveries are not allowed and access to hospitals for all but emergencies must first be approved.

Neighbours of Covid-19 cases and others living close by are also being forced into government quarantine facilities.

Shanghai is now in its seventh week of city-wide restrictions.

Despite the tougher measures, Shanghai officials insist that people living in half the city’s districts are now free to leave their homes and walk around.

State media has shown propaganda videos of departing medical workers visiting city landmarks together and taking photographs.

Shanghai moves to impose tightest restrictions yet (BBC)

Meanwhile…

The head of the World Health Organization has said China’s zero-tolerance Covid-19 policy is not sustainable given what is known of the disease, in rare public comments by the UN agency on a government’s handling of the virus.

“We don’t think that it is sustainable considering the behaviour of the virus,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a media briefing.

WHO chief says China’s zero-Covid policy not ‘sustainable’ (RTE)

Um.

Getty

Meanwhile…

Snap.

This morning/afternoon.

Dublin 11.

Gardai at the scene at a private residence at Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun where they yesterday discovered the body of Lisa Thompson, age 52, who had been the subject of a serious physical assault, and died as a result of her injuries. Gardai said that she could have been dead for some time before her body was discovered.

Gardaí keeping open mind in Ballymun murder investigation (RTE)

Leah Farrell/RollingNews

This morning.

Via Reuters:

Face masks are set to be no longer mandatory in airports and on flights in Europe, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have said.

The new recommendations will come into effect from 16 May.

“From next week, face masks will no longer need to be mandatory in air travel in all cases, broadly aligning with the changing requirements of national authorities across Europe for public transport,” EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky said in a statement.

Europe plans to drop mandatory mask requirements for air travel next week (RTE)

Meanwhile…

Fight!

Meanwhile…

Anyone?

Good times.

High-flying junior minister publicly backs turf rebels (Extra.ie)

From left: Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Prof Conor O’Mahony; Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman in the Seanad yesterday

This morning.

Via Irish Times:

The Government appointed Special Rapporteur on Child Protection, Prof Conor O’Mahony has said that the Taoiseach should offer an apology to people affected by illegal birth registrations.

Prof O’Mahony’s comment follows an apology by the Minister for Children, Roderic O’Gorman, on behalf of the Government in the Seanad on Tuesday evening. Mr O’Gorman said what had happened “was a historic wrong with deep and enduring impacts”.

His remarks came ahead of a debate on the Birth and Information Tracing Bill 2022 – the proposed legislation to allow adopted people access to their birth records.

Meanwhile…

The 24 hours notice of the apology had been “less than ideal” Prof O’Mahony told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. While the idea of an apology was good, the short notice was unfortunate as people wanted an opportunity to prepare and to attend.

Some felt that the apology in the Seanad was a “lesser form of apology” and was not of the same stature of previous apologies by the State which had been delivered by the Taoiseach in the Dáil, he said.

Taoiseach should offer State apology for illegal birth registrations, says Rapporteur (irish Times)

Last night: A Day Late And A Dollar Short

UCC/RTE