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Government not serious about protecting rural Post Offices says Senator
Posted by: In: 18 Feb 2015 Comments: 0

Excluding National Post Office Users Association shows contempt for post office users – Mullen

Independent NUI Senator Rónán Mullen has strongly criticised the composition of the new An Post Business Development Group set up by Minister for Communications Alex White.  The group has been created to explore the potential opportunities for attracting business for the post office network.

Senator Mullen expressed dismay that post office users were not included in the new group and said:

“I am disappointed to see that the National Post Office Users Association, launched last July in Ballinasloe, was not included in the An Post Business Development Group. It is a mistake to exclude the users of post services from any group charting the future of An Post. The National Post Office Users Association would provide An Post with the perspectives of people who actually experience the services of rural post offices. The decision to exclude the National Post Office Users Association shows contempt for post office users”

Paying tribute to the founders of the National Post Office Users Association, Senator Mullen commented:

“Michael John Kilgannon, Angela McGuinness and others who convened the National Post Office Users Association have done excellent work. The Association will be vital in highlighting the social importance of post offices to rural Ireland, and will advocate for the local needs of communities around Ireland who depend on rural post office services.“

He concluded by criticising the policies of the current Government:

“Rural Ireland has come under sustained attack from this Government. Decisions made in Dublin, whether about the provision of maternity services, mental health services or post offices, seem to be left in the hands of bureaucrats, who may have an eye on the economic bottom line but who do not seem to understand the need, in particular, in rural areas, to have a decent level of local services provided.”

HSE spending taxpayers’ money on spin doctors rather than real doctors
Posted by: In: 18 Feb 2015 Comments: 0

Mullen condemns HSE West spend on PR consultants 

Independent University Senator Rónán Mullen has expressed disappointment and frustration at the revelation that the Saolta Hospital Group (including Galway University Hospital and Portiuncula Hospital) spent €169,444.80 hiring the PR consultancy firm Setanta communications.

Commenting on figures he obtained from the Department of Health after raising the matter in the Seanad, Senator Mullen said:

“The use of external PR consultants by a public health authority is bizarre. I have yet to receive a satisfactory response from the HSE as to why a group of hospitals needs a press operation. The money spent on spin doctors would have better spent on real doctors and life-saving equipment for Galway hospitals.”

The Senator raised the lack of vital treatments for newborn infants in Galway’s hospitals:

“Galway currently lacks facilities providing therapeutic hypothermia for infants. This treatment known as ‘baby cooling’ is recognised and used internationally when a baby is born with a lack of oxygen reaching the brain. Baby cooling is a life saving treatment which can reduce the risk of permanent conditions such as cerebral palsy by up to 50%.

He continued: “If a baby is born in Galway or Portiuncula hospitals suffering from oxygen starvation, the vulnerable child must be rushed to Dublin by emergency ambulance. The lack of baby cooling west of the Shannon is one of the issues linked to ongoing investigations of maternity services in Portiuncula.”

“The shocking fact is that for the €170,000 spent on PR consultants, Galway could have been given two neonatologists and four baby cooling stations. At the same time as the HSE is investigating the safety of maternity services in the West, it is spending taxpayers’ money on spin doctors rather than on real doctors and equipment  to help vulnerable newborn children.”

More question marks about Northwest hospital tendering procedures
Posted by: In: 19 Dec 2014 Comments: 0

Questions about whether information technology contract correctly awarded

3rd December, 2014 

 
The Minister for Health should answer “serious questions” about a contract awarded by the HSE West Northwest Group, now known as the ‘Saolta University Health Care Group’, to a British company, Independent University Senator Rónán Mullen told the Seanad today.

Senator Mullen said that Saolta, which includes all the major hospitals in Counties Galway, Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal, had awarded a contract for information technology systems for its hospitals to a UK-based company, Northgate Public Services. “The value of this contract has not been disclosed by the HSE but the Irish Times has reported that a senior member of management with Saolta was previously a consultant with the company. It is also clear from the Irish Times report that Northgate was the only company invited to bid for this contract.”

Senator Mullen noted that a serious issue had arisen previously when the West Northwest hospital group had invited only one organisation to tender for the preparation of a report about the provision of maternity services. That organisation had an association with the then chairman of the hospital group who subsequently resigned from his hospital role.

The previous Minister for Health, James Reilly had given an assurance that there “would be no further breaches in relation to procurement matters”. But it was now important for the sake of public confidence that the Minister for Health address the issues around this information technology contract.

“What was the value of this contract for IT services and in the light of that value, did the tendering process comply with correct procedure? Was the Department of Health and the then Minister aware of possible tendering anomalies in the context of Northgate plc when the other issue was raised previously in the Seanad? If so, why was there no advertence to that fact?”

“I am asking for the Minister to come to the House because if there was any commercial connection between any member of senior management of those hospitals and the company that received the contract, it would raise serious issues.”

Senator Mullen noted that the current CEO of Saolta was due to finish his term in December 2014 and to transfer to the management of hospitals in the North-Eastern region in January. There might have to be suspension of this appointment until there was “full clarity” around the issue, Senator Mullen said.

Rapid Prompting Method
Posted by: In: 05 Dec 2014 Comments: 0

Breakthrough autism treatment ‘not on Government’s radar’ – Mullen says

 

“Government reply loaded with civil service gobbledygook”

18th November 2014

 

 

Independent University Senator Rónán Mullen has criticised the Government response to his call for the breakthrough autism teaching technique known as the ‘Rapid Prompting Method’ (RPM) to be promoted, funded and targeted at children suffering with autism in Irish schools.

“RPM is a truly breakthrough method for assisting parents and teachers of children with autism. The RPM system gives a child a new way to communicate with others. It is particularly successful for people who have limited or no speech. According to the Department of Education’s own figures approximately one child in every 88 is on the autistic spectrum. With such a high incidence of autism in Ireland, the Department of Education ought to be interested in any promising new education technique for children affected by autism.”

The Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan did not attend the Seanad to answer the Senator Mullen’s motion. Instead the Minister for the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, delivered a prepared script from the Department of Education. Senator Mullen criticised this response: “It was complete civil servants’ speak and I am disappointed because it tells me nothing about whether the Department knows or cares anything about the RPM method. Considering how important this issue is for thousands of Irish families I hoped to receive a reply that was not loaded with civil service gobbledygook. It looks like RPM is not on the Government’s radar.”

Senator Mullen lauded the work of volunteers who are struggling to have the Department of Education recognise the RPM method. In particular he praised the Ó Láimhín family and their supporters in Swinford, County Mayo for pioneering the introduction of the RPM system into Ireland: “Nuala Ó Láimhín is the mother of Seosamh, a 16 year old boy with severe autism. She and her husband, Padraig, have been using the rapid prompting method with their son at home since May 2013. Nuala tells me that life for Seosamh and their family has been transformed since they started using the method. The Ó Láimhín family and other volunteers in County Mayo have worked hard to spread the word of the RPM system. At the moment there is no evidence that the Department of Education is even aware of RPM, let alone willing to meet the volunteers who are working so hard to bring it to the attention of parents around Ireland. This is a disappointing state of affairs”.

Irish Water
Posted by: In: 26 Nov 2014 Comments: 0

Re-deployment of Insolvency Judges
Posted by: In: 26 Nov 2014 Comments: 0

Junior Cycle Reform
Posted by: In: 18 Nov 2014 Comments: 0

Minister should go “back to drawing board” on Junior Cycle reform – Mullen

School-based continuous assessment “risks the integrity” of the examination system

Independent University Senator Rónán Mullen today called on the Minister for Education Jan O’Sullivan to reconsider her reform proposals for the Junior Cycle “in the interests of anonymity and fairness”.

Speaking in the Seanad, Senator Mullen argued that the continuous assessment component of the proposed examination system should be marked by external examiners rather than classroom teachers.

“In light of the fact that talks aimed at resolving the dispute over the new Junior Cycle have collapsed, I feel this is the appropriate time for the Minister to reconsider her proposals,” said Senator Mullen. “There is a reasonable middle ground here which ought to be considered, namely that project or portfolio work, making up 40% of the overall Junior Cycle mark, should be graded by external examiners rather than classroom teachers, in the interests of anonymity and fairness.”

Senator Mullen said, “Teachers remain opposed to evaluating continuous assessment and project work of their own students – which is being proposed by the Minister. There is a feeling among teachers that plans to have them mark project work are all about costs. I fully agree. We cannot risk the integrity of the State examinations system simply to cut costs.”

Senator Mullen highlighted the damaging loss of anonymity involved in school-based continuous assessment. “Despite the many flaws of our State examinations system, its outstanding advantage is the absolute anonymity afforded to students who can rest assured that their work will be graded based solely on its merit. Continuous assessment and anonymity are not mutually exclusive concepts. We can both recognise the value of limited continuous assessment in the Junior Cycle and also retain the anonymity which so benefits students.”
“We owe this to teachers, who would otherwise be put under enormous pressure by both parents and students. We owe this to students who ought to be confident that their work is marked objectively and based only on its merits,” Senator Mullen said. “It’s time for the Minister to go back to the drawing board.”

Track My Crime
Posted by: In: 18 Nov 2014 Comments: 0

Inspectorate Report findings confirm need for
‘track-my-crime’ system – Senator Mullen


‘Sinn Féin needs to update its attitude to Gardaí’, Mullen tells Seanad

The failures identified in the Garda Inspectorate report are yet more evidence of the need for an online track-my-crime system to assist victims of crime, Senator Rónán Mullen told the Seanad today.

“Systematic failures and poor management practices have been identified in the Report,” Senator Mullen said. “The Report highlights an inconsistent approach to updating victims of crimes and a lack of IT and equipment to support the investigation of crime,” Senator Mullen said.

“This confirms the urgent need for a “track-my-crime” online system to allow victims of crime to access information about how their cases are being managed,” he said.

Senator Mullen recently asked the Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald TD, to introduce an online information system similar to that being operated by several police constabularies in the UK. “Victims of crime often feel left out in the cold when it comes to the Garda investigations,” Senator Mullen says. “The Inspectorate Report found that many victims said they were not kept up-to-date with developments in their case and found it extremely difficult to contact their investigating officer.”

Senator Mullen cited the positive experience in the UK after the introduction of an online tracking and information system for victims of crime: “The website is being used by police constabularies in Kent, Northampton and other parts of the country. An online service would satisfy the need of many crime victims here for an update on the status of their police investigation.”

Senator Mullen has also criticised Sinn Fein’s failure to support rank-and-file Gardaí and its suggestion that the Gardaí are ‘not fit for purpose’. He warned against two extreme responses to the Inspectorate Report. Some of the mainstream political parties were in ‘a blind rush’ to the defence of the Garda Síochána, as though any criticism was inappropriate. “Just as wrong, however, is the attitude of Sinn Féin in describing the Garda Síochána as ‘not fit for purpose’. Negativity towards the police may have been understandable in the context of the North, but there is no basis for similar criticism in the South because the Gardaí do not stand accused of bias against any particular section of the community. The Sinn Féin position is inconsistent with the role the party now seeks to play in Irish politics. They need to update their attitudes,” Mullen said.

Direct Provision Centres
Posted by: In: 15 Oct 2014 Comments: 0

Government lack of communication on Ebola
Posted by: In: 15 Oct 2014 Comments: 0

Government lack of communication on Ebola ‘irresponsible and worrying’ – Senator Mullen

‘Serious deficiencies’ in HSE guidance and protocols / Chaotic response to Ebola scare in Dublin hospital reported recently.

Senator Rónán Mullen today warned that there may be serious deficiencies in HSE guidance and protocols supplied to hospital staff to deal with patients with possible Ebola symptoms. Senator Mullen criticised as ‘irresponsible’ the Government lack of communication with the public about its plans to deal with a possible outbreak of the disease and called for the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar TD, to come before the Seanad on the issue.

“I find it very hard to understand how one of the Government’s first responses to questions was to warn the health unions not to exploit the issue to make points about resources and industrial relations issues,” Senator Mullen said.

“It is the Government’s responsibility to reassure the public that all necessary steps are being taken and that all staff are fully trained and equipped. Its failure to communicate beyond making a general claim of readiness is irresponsible. It’s worrying too because it suggests they may not know the full picture in the hospitals.”

“Hospital-based professionals have told me that in one large Dublin hospital there has been no training provided to A&E or other front line staff, and no ‘dry-runs’ have been implemented to date. I have also been informed that information distributed to staff so far relates to the assessment and diagnostic process as well as to the protocols to be applied by the ambulance service. But there has been no information about how to apply and remove personal protective equipment (PPE), or about supervision/observation of the removal of such equipment.”

“Is all this true, does the Minister know this, and is it a problem?” Senator Mullen asked.

“It has also been reported to me that a patient with suspicious symptoms presented to a Dublin hospital at the weekend. Ebola was eventually ruled out, but not before considerable confusion and debate regarding protocols and the plan of action as the staff treated the patient. There was an original idea to bring the patient to the Acute Medical Assessment Unit but an on-the-hoof decision was made to move the person to an isolation room in ICU. The support staff involved had no training or education about their role and protection despite the fact that they would need to be involved in non-clinical elements of the patient care process.”

“Minister Varadkar should tell us why screening at airports is right for Britain but wrong for Ireland. He should tell us whether there have been drills and dry-runs already in each hospital. He should tell us what personal protective equipment has been supplied to hospitals and whether it is of an equal standard in all cases.”

Senator Mullen said he had a list of other concerns and questions that responsible professionals were raising and he would appreciate if the Government would give an account of its stewardship to the Oireachtas as soon as possible.