INISTER DOESN'T MENTION THAT HER HUSBAND'S RELATIVES' COMPANY BENEFITS FROM HSE BUDGET
By Susanne Delaney
At 17 seconds: note the exaggerated hair flip and head toss given at the exact moment you hear that little Irish girl Roxanne's parents had to crowdfund for life changing spinal surgery in the US because she was inexplicably removed from a waiting list in Ireland. This is the only toss Jennifer Carroll MacNeill will ever give about Roxanne, and it is a "couldn't be bothered" one.
A "transition/dismissal" move (a quick hair flip) can indicate a desire to change the subject, move on, or "reset" the interaction, can also indicate dismissiveness, contempt and irritation).
She looks at Ben (clip in comments) like a lizard surveying an insect (as he asks about why none of the HSE budget could be allocated to Roxanne). Cold, blank, emotionless. She goes on here about where all the money goes (€27 billion per year) in a manner that would seem to indicate it comes from her pocket.
The money goes on this and that, but somehow the money just can't be found for Roxanne or children like her, whose childhoods have been effectively stolen by this government.
The minister failed to talk about how some of the health budget pays her husband's relatives who own CPL healthcare, and who likely receive thousands per health care worker they recruit (I'm sure the background and qualifications checks are real thorough...given all that money to potentially look the other way).
MacNeill has publicly denied having personal financial ties to CPL, stating that she, her parents, and her husband do not own shares.
STILL SEEMS LIKE A MASSIVE CONFLICT OF INTEREST that ANYONE in her family would be benefiting from the HSE budget in a profiteering sense while she is Health Minister, no?
In 2020, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill stated she had "no knowledge" at all of CPL's HSE contracts.
I find this claim really difficult to believe.
In the clip below, the minister breezes through her rote memory script. Without apparent empathy, remorse, or regret. She will get a pat on the back for that. She does as she is told for her big pay packet.
Despite a healthy budget, our health system is not safe and not functioning. Maybe if they didn't spend so much money on public private "partnerships," the money would stretch more?
Remember when the HSE used to directly provide homecare instead of using private companies, for example? It was cheaper, and it was far better care (as profits and cheap labour were not the number one goal).
Just to add here that while I am thankfully not in Roxanne's parents' position, my 9 year old child was referred to Temple Street for a neck ultrasound on persistent enlarged lymph nodes and I did not receive an appointment letter. I reverted back to my GP, who contacted the hospital. They then wrote back, refusing to scan my child. A different doctor did initially try to make excuses for the refusal but then admitted to me (when I pushed) that this is likely because of long waiting lists rather than a clinical decision (the hospital shouldn't contradict a GP referral).
This second doctor subsequently found another enlarged node and seemed surprised at this. He also attested she should be scanned.
I had to investigate which clinics do a paediatric scan and found only one (The Beacon). The cost is €250 which, as a low income household, I don't have (but will have to find).
Furthermore, despite it being a private clinic, my child has to wait until at least April (possibly the end of) because they have a backlog. Probably because she isn't the only one who has been refused a public scan.
How many more children in need of scans have been refused even after a GP referral? How many of them could have a serious issue, and how many families won't be able to afford to have any potential issues diagnosed on time? Finally, how long will it be before we realise what's really happening to all our public money, as children are left abandoned?