Blog Archives
Three in a bed sex advice for young teens is funded by Irish health service
Tips on enjoying “threesomes” paid for by Irish taxpayer, American donations.
All this just goes to prove that we still have a number of fun people in the Government. Well done James Reilly. I hope the scheme is a runaway success
Dublin: An Irish government-funded website, SpunOut.ie, aimed at teens or “young people” provides tips on how to enjoy “threesomes.” Seriously. The site is also backed by Atlantic Philanthropies, founded by Irish American billionaire Chuck Feeney.
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry? Don’t get me wrong. I’m steamed about this. I keep repeating to myself: how dare they? How dare they so deliberately undermine what my wife and I teach our children? And how dare it be done with our money?
Yet it’s just so outrageous that I find it almost amusing. I keep asking myself: is this the Ireland that the “men of 16” dreamed of? Is this what the Easter Proclamation was about? For what died the sons of Roisín, was it threesomes?
Of course when that little humor wears off I’m burning again.
SpunOut.ie purports to be “dedicated to helping you make informed decisions about things which may be happening in your life.” Well help on having “a fun and safe experience” in a thressome is the sort of help that my wife and I don’t want anyone giving our children.
I am confident that my wife and I have raised our children well, but this official sanctioning of decadence is a slap in our face. This is the government telling our children “pay no heed to what those people say.” Infuriating.
This kind of thing is a leftover from the Celtic Tiger days. Maybe they were so busy working all the hours God sent that they had no time for doing what parents of teenagers ought to do: fight the good fight, say ‘No’ often and mean it!, be resolute and pray that they come out all right on the other end. Maybe making money hand over fist or just keeping up with the Joneses took so much energy that they couldn’t fight the good fight.
Whatever the cause, there was a collective void where parents should have been. A void filled by ideas like those advocated at SpunOut.ie. The difference this time I feel like they’re mocking us parents for our weakness, having advanced to where they are advising our children on “threesomes.”
It’s galling. But the fact that it’s paid for with taxpayers’ money – OUR MONEY – makes it even worse.
The Irish government is funding SpunOut.ie through the Department of Health, a department that is under serious pressure due to the cutbacks in government spending. Or so we’re told.
The State of Irish Healthcare in 2013
Is he Irish Healthcare system in a state of terminal decline? What can Dr. James Reilly do about.
Both questions are easily answered – The system as we know it is in Terminal decline. As for Minister Reilly rising to the occasion to save our healthcare system the answer is of course no chance
James Reilly pledges to tackle smoking problem in Europe
What a laugh this report is given that the Minister would not even be capable of organizing a visit to a hospital
MINISTER FOR HEALTH James Reilly has given a personal pledge to “tackle the smoking problem” and called for combined measures to regulate tobacco products.
Speaking in Brussels in a meeting of the EU Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee, Reilly also called for comprehensive assistance to smokers who want to quit and media information campaigns.
The committee was discussing the proposal to revise the 2001 Tobacco Products Directive which focuses on smokeless tobacco products, packaging and labelling, ingredients or additives, cross-border distance sales and traceability and security issues. It also aims to harmonise the implementation of international obligations under the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Speaking about the proposal before the committee Commissioner Tonio Borg said tobacco “should look like tobacco and taste like tobacco as well, not like vanilla or other sweets”.
“These products are produced in this way to be attractive to the young. Let’s not forget that most people start smoking below the age of 25 and the majority when they are still minors,” he said. Several other MEPs echoed his call for flavoured tobacco products to be abolished.
However Danish MEP, Anna Rosbach, said that the committee should not forget that governments need the revenues generated by tobacco. “The fiscal impact is something we have to bear in mind”, she said. “Any smoker who stops is a good investment.”
Minister Reilly said that economically, it is a “no brainer”, because of the heavy costs that smoking imposes on health systems and on the economy, through absenteeism from work.
Italian MEP Oreste Rossi said he was worried that too many limits place upon people would result in an increase in the trade of illegal cigarettes. However Borg reassured the committee that security and tracking provisions were also proposed in the directive.
A report will be drafted by European Parliament rapporteur Linda McAvan and put to an Environment Committee vote on 10-11 July.
via James Reilly pledges to tackle smoking problem in Europe · TheJournal.ie.
via James Reilly pledges to tackle smoking problem in Europe · TheJournal.ie.
Working conditions in hospitals are so bad that sometimes I get no sleep at all
I WOULDN’T SAY there’s been a single week since I’ve started working about a year and a half ago in the hospital that I’ve only had to work 48 hours a week – as the 2004 EU Working Time Directive instructs.
It can be anything up to over 100 hours a week. There was a couple of hours where I was working over Christmas where I was on call three times a week and you’d have to work the next day post-call as well.
Generally you wouldn’t get any sleep, or you might get one or two hours. You could end up working anything up to 36 hours in a row.
Thirty-six hours would be a record. But once a week you’d generally have to work 32 hours in a row.
It’s a killer. Adrenaline tends to get you through the first 20 hours. You start to feel the burn at around 4am. You focus then on the ward for a few hours, you make your way through it, you’re generally okay that night, but then the next day is really exhausting.
Is this government committed to media diversity?
via Column: Working conditions in hospitals are so bad that sometimes I get no sleep at all.
via Column: Working conditions in hospitals are so bad that sometimes I get no sleep at all.
Thousands rally in support of Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan
Around 6,000 people are attending a protest rally in Navan, Co Meath in support of their local hospital.
The “Save Navan Hospital” campaign is calling for the retention of services at Our Lady’s Hospital.
Traffic diversions are in place for the rally.
via Thousands rally in support of Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan – RTÉ News.
via Thousands rally in support of Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan – RTÉ News.
Munster hospitals €40m over budget
Munster hospitals €40m over budget
By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
Monday, September 10, 2012
Hospitals in Munster were €39.81m in the red by the halfway point this year, with none able to stay within budget just months after a €48.94m cut to their funds.
Figures detailed in today’s Irish Examiner show that while Health Minister James Reilly may be forced to cut hospital cash even further in coming weeks, facilities are already struggling to cope.
The HSE’s performance-monitoring report updates reveal that, of the 12 main hospitals in HSE South and six in HSE Mid West, none are within budget.
By July, the facilities were a total of €39.81m over budget, with the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Limerick about €11.91m in the red.
The Cork University Hospital Group, which includes CUH and CUMH, was €8.28m over budget, while Wexford General was €2.84m over budget.
