The Minister for Health, Simon Harris, appeared to contradict the official advice given by the HSE on abortion pill provision during a debate on the Emergency Measures legislation in the Dáíl yesterday. Sinn Feín and left-wing TDs including Bríd Smith and Paul Murphy had sought amendments to the emergency legislation which would permit a doctor or nurse to […]
An incisive observation from Robert Burke on the twitter machine, here: https://twitter.com/robertburke84/status/1242750630592229376 He’s both right that the Irish Government has done a complete one hundred and eighty degree u-turn on testing in the space of seven days, and that the rest of the media seems unwilling to question it. More on the latter point in […]
The President of the Irish Health Consultants Association (IHCA) has written to Health Minister, Simon Harris, because of reports of “widespread shortages” of protective clothing and equipment for frontline heath workers. However, the HSE confirmed that new stock had been ordered and was on its way. A report in today’s Sunday Business Post reveals that Dr Dónal O’Hanlon wrote […]
The HSE has disputed a “fake news” message making the rounds on WhatsApp about the covid-19 virus. The message claims that using drugs like difene and ibuprofen makes covid-19 symptoms worse, and proposes the use of physiotherapy as a treatment for the disease. It claims to be supported by a “specialist” at Cork University Hospital. […]
Several GPs have criticised Health Minister Simon Harris following what they call “misleading” comments he made on RTÉ’s Prime Time regarding the covid-19 virus. Referring to the virus, which has infected at least 61 people on the island of Ireland and claimed its first death on Irish soil last night, the Fine Gael health minister […]
The Department of Health, and Minister Simon Harris, have so far failed to respond to questions put to them asking if they had put in place measures, recommended by the World Health Organisation [WHO], to minimise the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak at an international event the Department is co-hosting next week. They have also […]
There are basically two competing approaches to thinking about the Coronavirus: The first is popular with many policymakers and media observers, and it is to basically accept that the virus is now out of control globally, that most of us will probably get it and survive, and that it’s just a fact of life that […]
Next Monday, the Global Alcohol Policy Convention will hold its annual conference in Dublin Castle, organised in partnership with the Department of Health. Over 1,000 people are expected to attend, from all parts of the world, including areas that are struggling and failing to contain the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak. The Department of Health are, at […]
A few short days ago, the nation’s gallant Minister for Health strode purposely out of a meeting with his officials, sleeves rolled up, frown artfully affixed to his forehead, and announced to the waiting public that he had a plan to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus: He was going to cancel a rugby match. […]
Between 5pm and midnight this evening, while you were enjoying your pancakes, two flights arrived at Dublin Airport from Milan, Italy. A third arrived from the southern Italian city of Bari. A commercial flight usually carries between 150-200 passengers. In other words, about 450 people arrived into Ireland from a country where thousands of people […]
The government is not even pretending to care about women’s safety any more. When Simon Harris had an abortion referendum to sell, voters were told repeatedly that the safety of women in pregnancy was a top priority. We were reminded that after the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar from sepsis, Leo Varadkar had set up the National Maternity […]
On the one hand, this can’t be right, can it? On the other hand, Dr. Brendan McCann is just applying the available figures to the situation in his own hospital, and the results of that are, well, not pretty: “In a series of private emails before Christmas, the Service Lead in UHW’s emergency department, Dr […]