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CCNTV6
  • 5 months ago
While committing their support for the Children's Life Fund Amendment bill, both opposition and independent senators reject granting discretionary power to the Minister to overturn funding denials by the board.
Transcript
00:00Despite committing support for the Children's Life Fund Amendment bill,
00:05concern was still expressed by the opposition and independent benches over certain clauses.
00:11Dr. Emery Brown led the charge for the opposition asking for the estimated number of children
00:17who will now benefit from the expanded list of conditions.
00:20Every member here knows that with these expansions we can anticipate a deluge of new applications
00:29that is inevitable, I would say it's welcome because it's a sign that more children with more cases
00:38would be receiving the required attention, but it also demands that the Ministry of Health,
00:45the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning would have to make proper provision.
00:51Dr. Brown says many of the declined cases were based on poor prognosis.
00:56The likelihood of success or survival, success in the treatment or management was too low
01:04to justify or support an approval and the committal of these funds.
01:14And that's why he questioned.
01:15Why would you wish to take that burden and now put it, take it from an authority
01:26and put it on a minister, a politician appointed by a prime minister?
01:35What is the objective of doing that?
01:39A medical practitioner herself, Independent Senator Dr. Desiree Murray, supports the bill,
01:44but questions the terminology used.
01:47She calls for changing the term illness to the broader, more inclusive term condition.
01:53This distinction matters as it may determine who is eligible for life-saving, life-extending
02:02or life-enhancing treatment under the fund.
02:06It ensures that children are not excluded due to imprecise language.
02:12Also on the independent bench, Senator Francis Lewis says the unavailability of audited financials
02:19for the Children's Life Fund since 2014 is unacceptable.
02:23As a legislator with a responsibility for the public purse, I have to ask the question,
02:29is the money being well spent? What was spent? What does the bank account look like? How do we handle it?
02:35And the basics of having audited financials cannot be overstressed.
02:41He says the minister's authority to reject board decisions just does not stand up to scrutiny.
02:48The board of the fund is appointed by the minister. And then that same minister overrules that committee
02:56and jumps, rejects their decision. I would expect the board to resign. I would expect that very few
03:04persons of integrity would want to serve on such a committee, because that's bad governance.
03:10Independent Senator Deerup Timal could not agree more.
03:14It politicizes individual medical cases. It may undermine the independence and credibility of the
03:22Children's Life Fund at board. And it opens the door to lobbying and favoritism, real or perceived.
03:31And in my opinion, it can always, because of this flexibility and power of the minister,
03:37it can restrict future possible donations on the basis of trust and credibility.
03:46He suggests a tribunal be established to consider appeals.
03:50Rishi Tawari, Rupanarai, TV6 News.
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