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Updated 2.25pm
TRADE UNION SIPTU has called a rally in support of Clerys workers outside the department store on O’Connell Street, Dubin, tomorrow to highlight their demands for the new owners to meet with staff.
The store was taken over by consortium Natrium on Friday and a liquidator was appointed. Staff were only told on Friday evening that they no longer had jobs.
“The workers are demanding that representatives of Natrium meet with them and their union representatives immediately to discuss the situation. These workers have hundreds of years of service between them and should be treated with the due respect they deserve,” commented SIPTU sector organiser Teresa Hannick.
The rally will take place from 12pm tomorrow.
‘Appalling’
Minister for Jobs, Richard Bruton has said the government will do everything in its power to support the 460 former Clerys workers after the shock closure of the store.
Speaking to reporters in Dublin this morning, he said;
I can fully understand how they feel. I mean, it is terrible to lose your job and it’s particularly appalling to lose your job in the circumstances that they’ve experienced – very poor communication.
Liquidators KPMG have agreed to meet with the unions and workers tomorrow to try to give them some clarity about where they go from here and the minister said his department and the Department of Social Protection will also be meeting with them to discuss their rights and entitlements.
It is a real reminder that even though we are winning most of those battles and we’re sitting more jobs growth than decline, we continue to have sectors that are struggling. Some of them have business models that are, perhaps, very challenged and we have to always look at how do we equip ourselves to deal with those changes and I think that’s what we are doing.
He said he hoped the meetings this week will offer some comfort to the former Clerys workers.
“Nothing will take away the shock that has occurred for workers who have been impacted in this way but clearly we’re doing the very best to support them with the various supports from the state agencies.”
‘Despicable’
Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton mirrored his sentiments earlier, saying officials would be on hand this week to brief the 460 workers about welfare supports for their individual circumstances.
Speaking at Leinster House today, Dublin-based Fianna Fáil senator Darragh O’Brien welcomed the government’s approach so far but said it needed to be “more than words”.
He said what had happened to the Clerys workers is “despicable and disgraceful”, and added:
They’ve just treated people like dirt and it’s just not on in a modern democracy.
Meanwhile, Siptu has confirmed a union delegation will meet junior minister Ged Nash, who has responsibility for collective bargaining, tomorrow evening.
- additional reporting from Hugh O’Connell
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Waiting two years for an outfit patient surgery operation in Waterford. Only contact I have had in the last two years since they told me I was on the waiting list, is a letter asking if they still wanted me to be on the waiting list… absolute shambles of a health system.
@Thomas Brophy: I’m waiting 3 years for an appointment with Tallaght hospital. Same as you in that I got a letter about a year ago asking me to reply if I still wanted to be on the waiting list. I’m half expecting them to tell me that they never received the reply?
@Thomas Brophy: I am terrified for my son we have waited two years for some appointments and one year for other appointments this is under the disability pediatric services, no speech and language services and many other service he urgently needs. He was born with down syndrome and many other complications including open heart surgeries and will be sent into the adult services from July 2019.
@blackcoffee: My son is waiting over three years to see an ENT consultant in Tallaght hospital.. The past two years we’ve got the same letter and last week we got the same bloody letter.. They send them out in peak holiday season in the hope some people are away and they can remove them off the list..
@Charliegrl80: I have the same story in my house. Nothing, no services available for our children with special needs. No physiotherapy, no speech therapy, no occupational therapy.
And yet Simple Simon is able to promise healthcare to people in Northern Ireland. He is an absolute joke. Simple Simon Says indeed.
@Charliegrl80: I hear you. Same story in our house, no physiotherapy, no speech therapy, no occupational therapy. No paediatric psychiatric in the South East since the last one was forced to resign several months due to appalling conditions. My child is being left to rot by the state. And yet yesterday, Simple Simon is off in Northern Ireland promising to solve their healthcare problems #SimpleSimonSays
@Lucy Rodgers: if you’re going through AON process you should contact DCA Warriors they have a barrister working with them on the delays in children with special needs ,great support network too .
@Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: Thanks for the tip!
The public need ff and sf to represent them and remove this announcer of plans from office,the public are sick of announcements,plans,inquirys,but nothing happens,nothing changes.
@@mdmak33: Health is a poisoned chalice, nobody has ever achieved anything significant in the role, having said that it’s pointless making ridiculous promises that everyone knows are empty.
If a patient is in pain now, today, perhaps their GP is concerned about them, it’s pointless giving them a letter saying they’ll see a consultant in 18 months or 2 years, who’ll send them for tests and see them again in 9 or 10 months. By the time many are actually diagnosed they’ll be dead and buried. That’s the reality of shortening the waiting lists in 21st century Ireland.
More dilution of responsibility. What are junior ministers of health doing . No mind our Silver medal Hockey heroes , what about the Hero kids with Scoliosis waiting years to get operations. Heart breaking .
More untruths promised by the most untrustworthy government that the state has ever had!
Why does he sound like he has just got a new job…. He’s been in it for years!!!!!
Why is it patient’s can be seen in one or two weeks if they pay the same Doctor who can do it two or three year’s down the line for the same operation this needs to be addressed big time. If the Doctor can make time for paying patients why isn’t it checked who’s time are they using. Another big problem is people not turning up for appointments or not cancelling in advance. People who don’t turn up or not cancel in time should pay a minimum of €100 before they are seen the next time, if no payment made directly to the hospital they stay at the bottom of the list
@Mick12: I am admittedly someone who has a private appointment with a consultant that operates both publicly and privately. I’m uncomfortable about this, but i’ve already waited 4 months for this appointment on a private referral, and it’s still another 5 weeks out. if i went to someone fully private, i probably wouldn’t be seen til after christmas. my issue has affected my mental health considerably, and has even impacted my work to the point that i’ve had a breakdown in work over it. thing is, this is still just the initial consultation.. because i’m going to a public hospital, i’ll be on the same waiting list as public patients should i need surgery. this has me a tad scared, as i’ve no idea what’s wrong with me, other than i lost my sense of taste. (still have my sense of smell, i don’t smoke, don’t do drugs and barely drink – think three glasses of wine since christmas). this is the biggest medical issue i’ve had, and it’s a complete mystery.. can’t even find anything online about it, other than what it’s called.
From the first moment my mother set eyes on Harris she said that he was not to be trusted ‘Never trust a fast talker ‘ She’s long dead but she was so right!
@blackcoffee: she was – is right someone should time him he issues bull crap faster than any other minister that I have listened to down the year’s
@FlopFlipU: Eoin Murphy talks good and quick too. Gets a similar level of results too
Minister Harris announces new scheme. “I’ll guarantee you that you will have to wait years to see a doctor.”
Some want tax increases to give even more money to these incompetent beaurocrats…
Explaining the thought process behind it, Harris said:
“If you are going to work tomorrow you don’t ask how many cars are on the M50 – you ask how long you are going to be on the M50 to get to work.”
If this is the thought process at its finest then God help us,the M50 is the biggest car park ,liken it to the waiting lists and yes you have it,no movement.
How can he have straight face and promise people this can be done,previous ministers for health failed,so what makes him think this will work, he would be better saying nothing than creating hope where there is none,
How much is this list going to cost us
@Michael Mulcahy: This seems not so much an attempt to save money as more of an attempt at obfuscation and procrastination.
He describes people wanting to know how long they’re going to be waiting for a hip or knee operation, but that’s not what they’re going to be told, instead they’ll be given a date of when they’ll see the consultant. This only means they’re on the HSE treadmill, he/she may send them for tests, scans etc.and make an appointment to see them in another 6 months and review these and so on.
Nevertheless the HSE can say this fulfills the claims made today if a patient can be shown to have seen a consultant in the time stated, they’ll be able to say there are medical reasons why they haven’t had their surgery and, of course, they won’t comment on individual cases. In short it’s just another delaying tactic, another 5 Year Plan that everyone knows is smoke and mirrors but can’t be proven false for 5 years. At which point a different Minister will reveal his next 5 Year Plan…
I have an appointment to the Respiratory Outpatients clinic Beaumont Hospital, dated Mon 26th June 2021 – so yeah every patient already knows the date of their appointments. That is NOT THE ISSUE!!!
Harris has failed miserably at getting Irish people proper health. This Minister is like a flat tyre you go and change the tyre in this picture the tyre is Minister Harris
The only thing that Harris & co can guarantee is that this is not going to improve under Fianna Gael. They excel at bull$hitting the country & that’s about it. Harris has done nothing to improve the health service but will prosper nicely in the party for doing his time as the Minister for Death.
without stating the obvious, would it not better to focus on reducing the lists?. Patients should be kept up to date regardless with regular communication. Not exactly difficult to do!
How much is this going to cost us.we already know how bloody long it’s going to take
Next year,???, what about this year ,last year ,and all those years before then?
Just more spin,
With an election coming up there is suddenly a plan!
I’ll belive when i see it happening my daughter was told 52 weeks to see a consultant and god knows how long on a waiting list to have the operation
@Margaret Kane: I’m learning that the private system has it’s delays as well, sadly. By the time I see my consultant in September, I will have been waiting nearly 6 months. Not as bad, sure.. but this is something I’m forking out cash for, on top of insurance every month.
I worked in health insurance for 6 years. During that time, i heard how great it was going private – you’d usually have an appointment within 2 months. my first time using it, and i’m having to wait 3 times that.
I lost my sense of taste at the end of january, for no reason i can determine. i don’t smoke or do drugs, and hadn’t had a drink since christmas. this has seriously impacted my mental health, which was surprising.. but think about it. imagine smelling a food you love, but knowing you won’t taste it and in fact, it’ll probably feel terrible. example: i love pancakes, but can’t eat them anymore, because they feel like kitchen paper when i do. i’ve had an emotional breakdown, and increased depression since losing my sense of taste. by the dictionary definition, i’m technically disabled due to sensory loss. somehow, even on the private system this isn’t considered a big deal..
i’m coming to realise, first hand, just how much of a shambles our health system really is, and it’s scary. the fact that i’m experiencing this on the private system makes be glad i’m not going public, because from keeping tabs on the news i’m aware of just how much worse it is.
Your guaranteed to wait 4 years before you go on a waiting list for the waiting list or pay up.
Simon Harris and Eoin Murphy Ministers of Spin and False promises ,great at new initiative’s and press launches never get any thing done sack them now
everyone should be able to visit a GP for a nominal charge of say €10 with a reasonable monthly cap per family
also huge time and money is wasted by those who fail to turn up for appointments, time something was done to encourage repeat offenders to stop doing so
Next year.. Ohh that means a distraction to kick the can further down the road.
Harris is an easy scape goat. The real problems started when the HSE was set up in the first place. The only solutions put forward since then has been to shovel more money into the behemoth. This slaintecare malarkey is the same thing. We know only too well how terrible the state bureaucracy is in running even simple things, why anyone would trust them with something as complex as providing quality
healthcare is beyond me.
Fake news again, another plan, your not fit for purpose lads
Believe it when you see it. This genius is too busy solving the problems of the health service in the north.
Shorter waiting lists? They must be off their trolleys.
This is nothing more than a political stunt by the gov.
They have all failed at health, Martin, Vadaker and now Harris. All trying to put a square peg into a round hole. Shut down the HSE and get some foreigner in to set up a proper system.
Well two years plus too get results of an MRI just because the ortho surgeon decided he don’t work with adults any more that’s ok well it will cost more if people take a court case why lock the stable after the cattle have bolted .there are too many chiefs and not enough Indians the amount of admin staff and agency staff it would be cheaper too have full time staff and bring back matrons when they were around things got done no dirt or insects running around the floors
@Fran Barron: also I got a letter from neurology saying I’m on the list for a waiting list what a joke any thing could happen too me I blanked still walking etc but smashed my face it is deduced by my GP I am having petit Mal seizures .I have too have people with me I’ve already walked out in traffic without realising it my wife grabbed me in just in time
It’s the FG way ! How people can repeatedly vote for these shysters baffles me.
@GorillaGrower: what’s the alternative.
@Damon16: close borders down. Tens of thousands of people coming here every year is only adding to waiting lists for everything. My friend is on housing waiting list since 1995 because he is single person with no children he was told they have priority over him. If you have heart problem or serious health issues, one could be on waiting list for 2 years if you haven’t private hralth insurance. If you have money you live, if you haven’t you die.
W
Its obvious that some people thinks these clowns are doing a great job otherwise they wouldn’t be getting elected
Simple Simon another plan for next year. Let’s state the obvious simple Simon a failure in health. He no need to worry about the next few years because this people on waiting lists will dump him at the next election.
If you are on a waiting list try to get treatment over seas its quickies and cheaper.
Is there a waiting list to get on another waiting list ?
Get that child out of office…..
what a fool this fella is…but it’s not just him.all before have failed our great country and that includes our current taoiseach who by the way has not been voted for by the country nor did the majority of his own party
More promises. More lies. More political posturing at the expense of the sick. No actual plan. No hope of real change. This is a doomed rehash of several previous I implemented and failed ideas. Either remove money from medicine or suffer as we do.
Doctor told me a few months back I would have to wait four years to be seen in outpatients , now that is before I have to wait for the operation .
Wonderful. The minister for speaking the bleeding obvious introduces a scheme to let you know you are on a waiting list but does not tackle the reason why you are on a waiting list. Jesus wept.
This is just another FG pipe dream. They put this out there to try a smoke screen their failures. No costings, no real plan. 10 years is a long time to implement change. I know it can’t happen over night. A complete restructuring of the health service from the minister down is required. Harris should step down as he is obviously in over his head and has totally lost control of his dept. Leo needs to quit ponsing around and head hunt real competent business people from the private sector to dismantle and rebuild the health service while a competent minister over sees the restructuring.
We need somebody who has the skills to negotiate with unions etc, to find an approach that will keep all parties at the table.
More bull talk #yawn
Wonderful. The minister for speaking the terminal obvious introduces a scheme to let you know you are on a waiting list but does not tackle the reason why you are on a waiting list. Brilliant
Sorry this is just a joke. There is no way waiting lists will be reduced unless they hire more people. The insanity of the public health system. I would be very concerned about the mental health of the doctors (and nurses) in the system as they KNOW they have this huge list of people coming behind the ones right in front of them. So do you care for the one in front of you, take your time to ensure they will not need to be called back…or do you rush through to clear the waiting list, making mistakes and wishing you had more time to do your job properly. Fair play to those in the healthcare system but I certainly could not handle that kind of stress….
Wonderful. The minister for speaking the bleeding obvious introduces a scheme to let you know you are on a waiting list but does not tackle the reason why you are on a waiting list. Brilliant
That’s sgrest help!!
‘Live, horse, and you’ll eat grass.’
The boy Harris talks a good game
Oh fook off ffs
Brilliant its a miracle cure for all illness
Been told how long you will be hanging on.
Sure you will start feeling better right away.
@Thomas Brophy: yup, 2+ years waiting for ENT consult, I seem to have been dropped off the pain clinic radar since the existing consultant left Beaumont. He told me he doesn’t give opiates to fibro patients as they don’t work. That’s another story. Then also having to get to these appointments in Dublin from Meath with no transport. Public transport is far too much on my body with zero direct routes) I keep receiving those letters “do you still need this appointment” of course I bloody do. If I didn’t need it I wouldn’t be still complaining to my GP every week. Why is that GPs cannot or refuse to chase up positions on waiting lists for their patients ,by at least using their admin staff to do so? Because they get nowhere that’s why. Tbh with you my GP is the only doctor that ever gives me any help with my pain .I have severe fibromyalgia and other issues; fibromyalgia, which by the way is not just PAIN it’s a myriad of awful symptoms that effect the entire CNS and sympathetic nervous system which have left me now in bed practically most of my day unable to exercise due to how weak and shaky I am.
In Ireland patients like me are just left on neverending waiting lists with really no place to fit in. Rheumatology can’t help me Cardiology couldn’t help me, PAIN clinic basically told me to piss off and do some Yoga and I’d get better . . There are thousands and thousands of us with this illness and M.E in Ireland just being left to rot in their excruciating all over pain, severe fatigue, widespread muscle weakness, multiple sensory dysfunction and 200+ other symptoms and not one public consultant in 14 years has ever helped me improve AT all. It’s a living nightmare. Most of us dread even going to these umcompassionate appointments because NOTHING is ever done to help us. No doctors here are being trained in how to deal with patients like us yet Fibromyalgia and M.E which were pretty unknown when I was diagnosed in 2005 is now a silent epidemic with no cure or even a proper treatment protocol at this stage yet they’ve known it exists since 1904.
Don’t get me onto the topic my special needs 14yr old who has a physical disability and who has been messed around by the CRC and HSE all of her life and I am constantly fighting to get her help while suffering myself.
This latest drivel from the health minister is more talk talk talk and zero action. Look what has happened to draffing legislation for access to medical cannabis strains which could help thousands. . .
have your say