Latest news with #ClaireKerrane
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- Irish Independent
Two more reviews completed on Portiuncula maternity unit
In response to a parliamentary question from TD Claire Kerrane, Health Minister stated that the hospital and the safety of maternity patients are of 'critical importance'. While the response acknowledged the completion of two additional reviews and the increased number of recommendations, it merely stated that implementation would proceed 'over the coming months'. To date, Deputy Kerrane has received no further updates from the HSE or Health Minister. The direction for the hospital's future, according to the ministerial response, will require an 'extensive evidence base, of which an extensive review of the implementation of the current National Maternity Strategy will form part'. Deputy Kerrane expressed concern about the ongoing lack of clarity around future plans for PUH, particularly regarding efforts 'to ensure a full return of maternity services'. 'This roadmap is essential to ensuring the current reduction in services is not seen as a permanent solution and the hospital can continue to serve our community. This prolonged uncertainty is completely unacceptable, especially for pregnant women, who, as long as this situation continues, will have to travel further to have their babies.' The Irish Independent reported recently on the Galway County councillors call to the HSE and the health minister requesting a 'fully independent, external review' of the hospital. The councillors urged a broader evaluation of the hospital, placing it within a 'contextual service' framework alongside other maternity services nationwide. Initial recommendations in the first five reviews suggested diverting high-risk pregnancies to other hospitals, such as University Hospital Galway (UHG). This has raised concerns among local residents and councillors, as PUH serves communities across counties Tipperary, Offaly, and Clare. Questions have since been raised about the infrastructure and readiness of the hospitals expected to take on these patients, along with safety risks for women facing emergencies during labour. Deputy Kerrane is calling on the HSE to use the meeting to present a clear 'roadmap' and offer 'much needed assurances' that the diversion of high-risk pregnancies is only a temporary measure. Additionally, a petition to preserve and enhance existing maternity services at PUH has already gathered over 3,000 signatures. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Irish Independent
17-07-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Roscommon forests that were destroyed by fire to be replanted
The state-owned forestry company confirmed the news to Roscommon Galway TD Sinn Féin TD, Claire Kerrane. Approximately 1,300 acres of bog and forestry were burned in a five-kilometre radius in the Gorthaganny, Coney Island, Carrowbehy, and Cloonfower areas when wildfires erupted during a dry spell of weather in May. Follow Independent Roscommon on Facebook Coillte's local management team is still assessing the damage caused and would determine if felling of roadside trees was required. In correspondence to Ms Kerrane, the company said it believes the majority of the roadside trees are privately owned. 'Removal of roadside trees can require a felling licence to be in place or a statement from the council engineer confirming the trees to be dangerous and to be removed under the relevant roads Act,' it said. Ms Kerrane said that affected roadside trees needed to be removed as soon as possible. She also said a solution was still outstanding for private forestry owners who lost their crop to the fires. A public meeting in Gorthaganny Community Hall in response to the fire heard that most of the forestry crop was not insured against fire. In a meeting with delegation comprising local representatives and Oireachtas members, Minister Michael Healy Rae TD did not promise any government compensation for those affected by the fires. The National Parks and Wildlife Service have assessed the area and are preparing a remediation plan for the damage done to a Special Area of Conservation which contains the Carrowbehy Bog Walk. This area contains a rich array of flora and fauna which were destroyed by the fire. The cause of the fires has not yet been determined.
Irish Times
16-07-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Rachel Fehily: Why are the experiences of people born, like me, in Temple Hill forgotten?
I spent the first three months of my life in a contested space: Temple Hill in Blackrock , Dublin, commonly known as St Patrick's Infant and Dietetic Hospital. It is contested because there is a fundamental disagreement as to its historical purpose: there are two different retrospective interpretations of its function. To this day the Government insists that it was a hospital; but in reality, it was an adoption home for infants and babies . It was stated in a parliamentary question in the Dáil by Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane last year that: 'Temple Hill does not qualify for supports, redress or recognition because it was a hospital, yet babies were adopted and paid for on foot of newspaper advertisements. Many children went to America. I have never heard of a hospital that does that.' Despite the indisputable fact that many children were adopted from Temple Hill through the former adoption society St Patrick's Guild, and some were resident for lengthy periods of time, it is one of at least four institutions excluded from the Mother and Baby Institutions payment scheme as it was not on the initial list of homes investigated by the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes. The fact that it was not an institution within the meaning of the terms of the commission and no mothers resided there with their babies (apparently they were taken from them at the door) kept it out of its terms of reference. READ MORE I am not seeking a payment under the scheme or looking for redress personally, because I left Temple Hill with my adoptive parents at the age of three months. I was fortunate to grow up with six siblings – five adopted, also from the same location – in a stimulating and supportive environment, but I am advocating for people who have been left out. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has stated that the official commission report was flawed because many institutions were excluded. Its remit was too narrow. In an 'alternative report', a team including survivors, activists and eminent academics wrote that its 'text excluded significant cohorts of affected people' and that 'it is regrettable that the Commission did not request to modify its terms of reference to permit deep engagement with a wider range of organisations'. Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley will have a chance to review the operation of the scheme within six months of its second anniversary, by September 2026. Many of the now-ageing adults who were resident and abused in institutions and identify themselves as 'survivors' in need of the supports offered by the scheme are currently left in limbo. I had the pleasure of meeting the Irish artist Bernard Canavan, a recipient of the prestigious Presidential Award for his contribution to Irish culture in the UK at the Irish Cultural Centre in Hammersmith, London. He recently held an exhibition at The United Arts Club in Dublin entitled Theocracy. His paintings represent the trauma that he and others endured in institutions. He was a long-term resident of the same Temple Hill in Blackrock, more than 25 years before me. Despite evidence of his abuse, neglect, lengthy period of residency at Temple Hill, and his advanced age, he is excluded from the payment scheme because of 'contested' definitions. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) has set up a comprehensive curriculum resource on 'mother and baby homes' for the Junior Cycle. It developed it in collaboration with groups involved in advocating for survivors of 'historic' institutions. This is an important and worthwhile initiative. The list of related literature for the English curriculum is comprehensive and impressive, including the novel Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan and the play An Trial by Máiréad Ní Ghráda. The curriculum has input from many survivors and is all the better for it. However, the framing of the curriculum comes directly from the NCCA, a statutory body of the Department of Education. At the launch, Minister for Education Helen McEntee said: 'It is vital that our young people learn about the history of this State in every aspect, and in order to provide this teaching and learning, teachers must be supported with resources such as this one.' One of the resources for Junior Cycle teachers - a series of slides, maps, a list of the homes included in the Commission's report - omits the contested homes. Much of the lengthy reading list that goes with the teacher supports comprises 'official' reports. Searching through the voluminous reading list, I eventually found an alternative ' List of Institutions, Agencies and Personnel Involved in Separating Unmarried Mothers from their Children .' It is collated by Claire McGettrick and the Justice for Magdalenes Research and Adoption Rights Alliance. The database includes St Patrick's Infant Dietetic Hospital (aka Temple Hill). It is vital that students understand how our Government and legal system operates to include and exclude people from access to justice. These nuances matter. If school children are taught to think critically they might be driven to question as to whether their history curriculum is in fact 'history' or 'current affairs'? In Fintan O'Toole's excellent recent article on the excavation of the Tuam site , he writes that: 'This is making history in a double sense – doing something that has never been done before while simultaneously reshaping a country's understanding of its own recent past. And, hopefully, of its present.' It seems ironic that the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four has been removed from the Senior Cycle curriculum for 2026 by the Department of Education, while Greta Gerwig's film Barbie has been deemed worthy of inclusion. Leaving Certificate students won't have to read George Orwell's text or consider one of its most memorable lines: 'Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.' But they will have a chance to consider this dialogue by Weird Barbie: 'That Ken of yours, he is one nice looking little protein pot … I'd like to see what kind of nude blob he's packing under those jeans.' Rachel Fehily is a barrister, lecturer in literature and justice at UCD and is engaged in interdisciplinary creative-based doctoral studies supported by Research Ireland
RTÉ News
17-05-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Opposition parties to unite over children's health
At 10am next Tuesday morning, a 14-year-old girl will begin a 50-hour sleepout protest outside the Dáil. Disability rights campaigner, Cara Darmody has been advocating for her two younger brothers who have autism. To coincide with her demonstration, the opposition will come together to pile pressure on the Government over the ongoing delays for children in accessing assessments of need. These initial evaluations are the gateway to accessing further services and without them, children and their parents are left bereft. According to Sinn Féin's spokesperson on Children, Disability and Equality Claire Kerrane, the waiting list now stands at 15,296. And just 7% of assessments are completed within the six-month timeline set down by law. In an unusual move, opposition parties are joining forces to table a Private Members Motion demanding that the Government take urgent action to address what they say is a crisis. This includes a workforce plan to increase staffing along with more funding for services. At the same time, the fallout is just beginning from the revelations of unnecessary hip operations for children. For several days the Government has been under attack for its perceived lack of urgency in moving to fill the vacuum of information for distressed families who may be affected. These parents have been receiving letters from Children's Health Ireland notifying them that their children should be receiving follow-up care after having operations. But these notifications - and over 2,200 have been sent - do not contain the vital confirmation on whether their children may have had unwarranted surgical interventions. And while a review is close to being finalised, it seems this will also not give definitive answers. Children as young as one years of age have had their hips opened up, cutting into their bones. The clinical review has been undertaken as an anonymised sample of operations at Temple Street, Crumlin Hospital and Cappagh Hospital between 2021 and 2023. A draft version of the review was leaked and published online and some findings have been read into the Dáil record. Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty told the House that 60% of surgeries in one hospital, and 80% in another, were unnecessary. He said: "Children as young as one years of age have had their hips opened up, cutting into their bones. "They have had to learn how to walk again. They have been left with scars for their life, and now we find out that these surgeries may have been unnecessary." This goes to the heart of the distressing evolving controversy. And the Government has been put in a difficult position of attempting to answer questions on the allegations while insisting that it must wait until the full facts are available. Taoiseach Micheál Martin confirmed this week that the full report should be completed next week and given to the Health Minister. It is expected to be published quickly. This will heap pressure on the Government to act as it has ultimate responsibility for appointing the board of Children's Health Ireland. That organisation is already firefighting with its chairperson resigning in the wake of the report into the use of unauthorised springs in children's spinal surgeries. Those were devasting revelations but were confined to three children. The unfolding issue of unnecessary hips operations is clearly much larger and may run to several hundred. Accountability and further inquiries So, there are two clear areas where Irish children are being failed by the State - the lengthy waiting lists for assessments of need and the revelations around children's operations. All of this focuses the spotlight firmly on children's health and services with the line Ministers firmly in the firing line. Attention will turn to accountability and further inquiries - both areas of danger for the coalition. In the wake of the springs controversy, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill resisted calls for the removal of the board of CHI. This line may be increasingly difficult to hold. And furthermore, it is already clear that the sample audit will not be sufficient and a broader comprehensive investigation will be needed. Impact on current surgeries In the meantime, questions are being asked about the impact of the ongoing review on services at the affected hospitals. Labour Health spokesperson Marie Sherlock has called on the Health Minister and Children's Health Ireland to clarify whether the ongoing review into unnecessary hip operations in children is having an impact on the provision of surgery. She has written to the Minister and the chief executive of CHI asking for answers to specific questions including whether any surgeon or staff member has been suspended or had their work curtailed on foot of the initiation of the review. This all means that Health is moving centre stage as was seen in the Dáil this week. New minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill appears to have had some early success on getting the HRT deal over the line with pharmacists and in getting some agreement on weekend rostering in hospitals. But this evolving controversy will test her political skills. Nothing could be more emotive than young children subjected to unnecessary grueling surgery while others struggle on waiting lists.
Irish Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Daily Mirror
Opposition table joint motion as over 15K children overdue Assessment of Needs
Over 15,000 children are awaiting an Assessment of Need required to access services and therapies. The five main opposition parties will table a motion in the Dáil next week to put pressure on the Government to provide these services. An Assessment of Need (AON) identifies whether a child has a disability, the nature and extent of the disability, and any health and education needs that may arise. Under law, once the HSE receives an application in writing, they must start the assessment within three months and complete it within an additional three months. Details from the HSE given to Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane confirmed that the number of AONs overdue for completion at the end of March 2025 stood at 15,296. This represents an increase of 8% on the end 2024 figure of 14,221. Some 1,412 AONs were completed in the first quarter of 2025, a 65% increase on the same period in 2024 of 849. The HSE stated that the percentage of these AONs that show 'No Disability' has increased from 15.8% in 2010 to 26% in Q1 2025. They also confirmed to Deputy Kerrane that 3,131 new applications were received in the first three months of the year, a 20% increase on the figure for the same period last year of 2,603. The HSE told Ms Kerrane that a March 2022 High Court case stated that the HSE's AON checks were not meeting the standard required under the Disabilities Act, and it is now required to deliver diagnostic assessments where necessary. Tipperary teenager and disabilities campaigner Cara Darmody will begin a 50-hour protest outside the Dáil next week. In an unusual move, Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and Independent Ireland have tabled a joint motion which will be debated in the Dáil next Tuesday to coincide with the protest. The motion states that children are 'legally entitled to an assessment of their health and education needs' within six months and that 'the law is being broken with respect to the 15,296 children whose assessment of need is overdue'. It calls on the Government to 'comply with its legal obligations' and to make funding available for 'Cara's Fund' to clear the backlog. The opposition has also called on the Government to 'set a specific target date by which the Government aims to comply with the legal entitlement to an Assessment of Need under the Disability Act 2005'. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said that children have been 'scandalously left waiting for services and support' Deputy Kerrane, meanwhile, stated that there has been a 'frightening increase in the waiting list for Assessment of Needs from 500 in the summer of 2021 to over 15,000 now'. She added: 'Worryingly, the HSE anticipates that this will only get worse and expects that by the end of 2025, there could be as many as 24,796 assessments of need due for completion. 'It is clear that the government still does not have a plan to stop the state from breaking the law and to ensure that children get their assessment of needs within six months.'
