I know I tend to obsess about the HSe but this State Agency is in such a pitiful mess, it is breathtaking!
So last week, the HSE drags a 17 year old to court claiming that she couldn't go to the UK to terminate her pregnancy which would result in a child being born, only to die. The State's legal team objected to its own Agency's decision to bring the case. The A.G argued that the HSE didn't need to take this case. So over the weekend, the HSE changed its position and started a new legal action to overturn their existing legal challenge. Are you confused? Well I can't blame you if you are. There are now two legal actions arguing two separate positions of which the HSE is on both sides!!
So the question now is why put a 17 year old through this? Why did they not think through this before taking the original legal action? Why did they not contact the AG's office if they were unsure of their position? How much of our money has been wasted trying to victimise this girl? Who will now take responsibility for this debacle? Will the Minister for Health ask for the HSE to answer these questions and make someone accountable?
Well I can't answer all the questions but I know the answer to the last question is simple - NO. No one is ever asked questions and no one is ever held accountable. Maybe its time for a change.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Hello?.....Is there anyone there?
"Yes. I am a convicted criminal who is running my business from the maximum security jail in Portlaoise! "
So welcome to our prison service after 10 years of this Government. Being convicted doesn't matter anymore because if your convicted, you still get to talk to the outside world and do whatever you want include running your business!
So now we have the truth - our prison service has failed us and the Minister for Justice then comments that "someone will have to take responsibility for it". What about something novel? Why doesn't he take responsibility after all he is the Minister? Silly me. A Minister is this Government taking responsibility for a Department that they control? Now that would be unique.
Everyone knew that the Prison Service was governed by the prisoners and not the prison authorities. The time has come for change. The time has come for strong decisions to be taken. The time has come Minister's to take responsibility. The time has come for delivering real and sustainable change. For that to happen, we need a change in Government.
So welcome to our prison service after 10 years of this Government. Being convicted doesn't matter anymore because if your convicted, you still get to talk to the outside world and do whatever you want include running your business!
So now we have the truth - our prison service has failed us and the Minister for Justice then comments that "someone will have to take responsibility for it". What about something novel? Why doesn't he take responsibility after all he is the Minister? Silly me. A Minister is this Government taking responsibility for a Department that they control? Now that would be unique.
Everyone knew that the Prison Service was governed by the prisoners and not the prison authorities. The time has come for change. The time has come for strong decisions to be taken. The time has come Minister's to take responsibility. The time has come for delivering real and sustainable change. For that to happen, we need a change in Government.
Monday, April 30, 2007
HSE has again shown it has lost touch!
So the HSE has finally shown his true colours - if we needed further proof! The HSE has now decided to victimise a 17 year old child and prevent her going to the UK to have an abortion. She is pregnant with a child who will not live if born and the same HSE is persecuting her after they neglected the two Dunne children in Wexford two weeks ago.
It is deeply shocking that they failed to protect children who were in need of urgent care but rather choose to victimise a 17 year old who is going through a very difficult time of her life. Not only is she pregnant at 17 and has been told that she will lose her baby, but now they want to emotional damage her for life by making her carry a baby full term, who has no chance of life.
What heartless, callous, vindictive people we have in the HSE! They just want to protect themselves and their positions and care nothing about the people they are supposed to look after. We need this bureaucracy to be torn down and a proper management service put in place who will be caring, proactive and dynamic in their delivery of care to those who need it.
Leave the 17 year old alone and send those who have created this monster agency packing!
It is deeply shocking that they failed to protect children who were in need of urgent care but rather choose to victimise a 17 year old who is going through a very difficult time of her life. Not only is she pregnant at 17 and has been told that she will lose her baby, but now they want to emotional damage her for life by making her carry a baby full term, who has no chance of life.
What heartless, callous, vindictive people we have in the HSE! They just want to protect themselves and their positions and care nothing about the people they are supposed to look after. We need this bureaucracy to be torn down and a proper management service put in place who will be caring, proactive and dynamic in their delivery of care to those who need it.
Leave the 17 year old alone and send those who have created this monster agency packing!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
FF deliver Environmental Revolution
Fianna Fail today promised an "Environmental Revolution" over the next five years if they get re-elected. The reality is that they have already delivered that revolution!
During the lifetime of this Government, they have exceeded every environmental target they have set. The Government's own agency has figures to justify this statement.
Figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show that, while Ireland’s Kyoto target in the period 2008-2012 is to limit emissions to 13 per cent above the base line estimate, Ireland’s emissions in 2005 were 25.4 per cent above the base line estimate. So ,in order to meet the target that this Government signed up to, it now requires radical measures so that we can achieve the objective.
This Government has adopted many policies which have damaged our environment and puts us in the camp of countries who have failed to control carbon emissions. Now, on the eve of the election, the Government have been converted to being Green! Perhaps that is because they might need the Green Party to form a Government after the election. It is sad that this Government shows no environmental leadership but rather is motivated by political concerns. It smacks of the "Nero fiddles while Rome burns" syndrome which is one of the hallmark traits of this Government which is bankrupt of ideas and unable to deliver reform where it is needed.
We need to abide by our international obligations and secure the environment we live in. It is time for a revolution but that begins with removing the barriers to change - this Government!
During the lifetime of this Government, they have exceeded every environmental target they have set. The Government's own agency has figures to justify this statement.
Figures released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) show that, while Ireland’s Kyoto target in the period 2008-2012 is to limit emissions to 13 per cent above the base line estimate, Ireland’s emissions in 2005 were 25.4 per cent above the base line estimate. So ,in order to meet the target that this Government signed up to, it now requires radical measures so that we can achieve the objective.
This Government has adopted many policies which have damaged our environment and puts us in the camp of countries who have failed to control carbon emissions. Now, on the eve of the election, the Government have been converted to being Green! Perhaps that is because they might need the Green Party to form a Government after the election. It is sad that this Government shows no environmental leadership but rather is motivated by political concerns. It smacks of the "Nero fiddles while Rome burns" syndrome which is one of the hallmark traits of this Government which is bankrupt of ideas and unable to deliver reform where it is needed.
We need to abide by our international obligations and secure the environment we live in. It is time for a revolution but that begins with removing the barriers to change - this Government!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Institutional Death
What is going on in this country?
After hearing the appalling news from Wexford on Monday, I checked my calendar to make sure we were living in 2007 and not 1957!
The Gardai were tipped off from an Undertaker that a father had booked coffins for his family on Friday and their response was to ring a priest! They have the legislative powers to intervene but choose to ring a priest! They also rang the HSE and were told to call the Care Doctor service. Is this the same HSE who allowed a woman kill her children two years ago and the same HSE that allowed a woman starve to death in her home in Wexford at the same time? Have they not learnt any lesson? The same Gardai allowed Father Fortune and Father Grennan continue with their abuse of children for years.
It makes me mad as hell that two State Agencies had the power to save two kids lives and instead spent the weekend dotting i's and crossing t's? I am appalled. The people responsible should be charged with Manslaughter for their criminal negligence and sacked.
It also looks like none of these State Agencies want to take responsibility for anything. We already know that the HSE don't protect our elderly in nursing homes and now won't protect children who are in danger.
The time has come for someone to take responsibility for their appalling neglect of their duty. Will either of the Ministers (Health and Justice) take responsibility? Will the Grandfather Taoiseach do anything to protect other vulnerable children or just offer his sympathy for State neglect?
We need a urgent independent inquiry into the failure of these Agencies and also the failure of Government to take responsibility for these failings.
Two young kids are dead and it could have been stopped. It is shocking tragedy and points to institutional failure and shocking neglect. We can't bring these kids backl but we can take the next steps to making sure it doesn't happen again - get rid of those who allowed these Agencies to be run so badly - the Government!
After hearing the appalling news from Wexford on Monday, I checked my calendar to make sure we were living in 2007 and not 1957!
The Gardai were tipped off from an Undertaker that a father had booked coffins for his family on Friday and their response was to ring a priest! They have the legislative powers to intervene but choose to ring a priest! They also rang the HSE and were told to call the Care Doctor service. Is this the same HSE who allowed a woman kill her children two years ago and the same HSE that allowed a woman starve to death in her home in Wexford at the same time? Have they not learnt any lesson? The same Gardai allowed Father Fortune and Father Grennan continue with their abuse of children for years.
It makes me mad as hell that two State Agencies had the power to save two kids lives and instead spent the weekend dotting i's and crossing t's? I am appalled. The people responsible should be charged with Manslaughter for their criminal negligence and sacked.
It also looks like none of these State Agencies want to take responsibility for anything. We already know that the HSE don't protect our elderly in nursing homes and now won't protect children who are in danger.
The time has come for someone to take responsibility for their appalling neglect of their duty. Will either of the Ministers (Health and Justice) take responsibility? Will the Grandfather Taoiseach do anything to protect other vulnerable children or just offer his sympathy for State neglect?
We need a urgent independent inquiry into the failure of these Agencies and also the failure of Government to take responsibility for these failings.
Two young kids are dead and it could have been stopped. It is shocking tragedy and points to institutional failure and shocking neglect. We can't bring these kids backl but we can take the next steps to making sure it doesn't happen again - get rid of those who allowed these Agencies to be run so badly - the Government!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
COMMITTED TO BLOCKING THE TRUTH
Yesterday's events have been much commented on by politicians and journalists. the arrest of a journalist for exposing the truth was, many people maintain, a shocking event.
However, the surprise and shock of this development is matched by the surprise that people have shown to the story. This is not a new development for the State especially one governed by Fianna Fail. Two Irish Times journalists have already been threatened with imprisonment over revealing facts relating to payments to Bertie Ahern. Geraldine Kennedy and Colm Keena told us how the current Taoiseach profited from high office and now face jail for doing so. The latest development in which a journalist who revealed that the Gardai tried to stitch up the wrong man for a crime he didn't commit, now faces a long jail sentence for doing so. Should the Government not be spending this time ensuring that this type of abuse of power by the Gardai never happens again? Probably not because the Morris Tribunal in Donegal has revealed that corruption and malpractice could well be endemic.
Corruption in Irish life has cost us millions and even more to investigate. However, journalists are able to expose the truth much faster and cheaper but this Government tries to prevent the truth coming out. They have severly limited the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and has even lead to the Information Commissioner criticising the Government for the restrictions. Indeed, she even referred to the Gardai last May - she said she finds it 'quite extraordinary' that certain public bodies do not come under the remit of the act. Referring to the exclusion of An Garda Siochána, the commissioner said that Scottish police came under a Freedom Of Information Act in that jurisdiction and 'the heavens hadn't fallen'. She said people would not be entitled to information on criminal investigations but she believed people were entitled to make requests for information on what she called the administration of policing.
We do need open, accountable Government and and not one where stifling the media through legislation and prosecution is the order of the day.
Openness in Government is now looking more like our Health Service - Third World!
However, the surprise and shock of this development is matched by the surprise that people have shown to the story. This is not a new development for the State especially one governed by Fianna Fail. Two Irish Times journalists have already been threatened with imprisonment over revealing facts relating to payments to Bertie Ahern. Geraldine Kennedy and Colm Keena told us how the current Taoiseach profited from high office and now face jail for doing so. The latest development in which a journalist who revealed that the Gardai tried to stitch up the wrong man for a crime he didn't commit, now faces a long jail sentence for doing so. Should the Government not be spending this time ensuring that this type of abuse of power by the Gardai never happens again? Probably not because the Morris Tribunal in Donegal has revealed that corruption and malpractice could well be endemic.
Corruption in Irish life has cost us millions and even more to investigate. However, journalists are able to expose the truth much faster and cheaper but this Government tries to prevent the truth coming out. They have severly limited the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and has even lead to the Information Commissioner criticising the Government for the restrictions. Indeed, she even referred to the Gardai last May - she said she finds it 'quite extraordinary' that certain public bodies do not come under the remit of the act. Referring to the exclusion of An Garda Siochána, the commissioner said that Scottish police came under a Freedom Of Information Act in that jurisdiction and 'the heavens hadn't fallen'. She said people would not be entitled to information on criminal investigations but she believed people were entitled to make requests for information on what she called the administration of policing.
We do need open, accountable Government and and not one where stifling the media through legislation and prosecution is the order of the day.
Openness in Government is now looking more like our Health Service - Third World!
Monday, February 12, 2007
NURSING HOME MADNESS
Have we finally lost the plot??
The HSE, the biggest bureaucracy in the State, today demonstrated just how stupid they are. They announced that a nursing home in North Dublin is not fit for purpose and has written to all public residents advising them that they have a month to find alternative accommodation. Now that in itself is not strange accept that they are leaving all private patients in the home!!
Now surely if the home is too bad for all public patients to stay there, then is is bad for all. They should go to the High Court and shut it down. They should also publish their inspection reports so that the families of the private patients would have the same information as the HSE when making their decision. The HSE won't do this, they don't care about all patients but just want to cover their own asses.
Of course, if we had a Nursing Home Inspectorate which has been on the cards for 2 years and has not happened yet, all patients would be treated the same. The Government moved fast to give their mates tax breaks to open homes, emergency legislation to take money back from nursing home patients but have dragged their heels on actually helping and supporting those people who are in homes. This is a shocking indictment of their failure once again and a shocking abuse of our elderly.
Families who have relatives and friends in nursing homes have been given no re-assurance by today's events, rather they now have further proof of a Government who doesn't care and has no will to help the most vulnerable.
The HSE, the biggest bureaucracy in the State, today demonstrated just how stupid they are. They announced that a nursing home in North Dublin is not fit for purpose and has written to all public residents advising them that they have a month to find alternative accommodation. Now that in itself is not strange accept that they are leaving all private patients in the home!!
Now surely if the home is too bad for all public patients to stay there, then is is bad for all. They should go to the High Court and shut it down. They should also publish their inspection reports so that the families of the private patients would have the same information as the HSE when making their decision. The HSE won't do this, they don't care about all patients but just want to cover their own asses.
Of course, if we had a Nursing Home Inspectorate which has been on the cards for 2 years and has not happened yet, all patients would be treated the same. The Government moved fast to give their mates tax breaks to open homes, emergency legislation to take money back from nursing home patients but have dragged their heels on actually helping and supporting those people who are in homes. This is a shocking indictment of their failure once again and a shocking abuse of our elderly.
Families who have relatives and friends in nursing homes have been given no re-assurance by today's events, rather they now have further proof of a Government who doesn't care and has no will to help the most vulnerable.
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