Results 8,841-8,860 of 11,654 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Children's Health Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: There is full accountability. In fairness, any board has to assure that all expenses are accounted for. As that includes remuneration to the CEO and board members, the system is already in place.

Seanad: Children's Health Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: I am not clear what board Senator Devine is referring to when she says the system has failed. That was where people were working in the particular organisations where it failed. It was not the board of directors where it failed.

Seanad: Children's Health Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: No, it was not oversight. The issue that Senator Devine is raising is about board directors. The lack of accountability she referred to was by those employed within the particular organisations as opposed to-----

Seanad: Children's Health Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: I accept that but the Minister has given clarification on the matter and there is full accountability. The implication here is that there is not accountability, whereas the legislation is quite clear in saying that the Minister is putting in place legislation which means that the board is accountable for every expense incurred.

Seanad: Children's Health Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Bill, which is complex. It deals with the amalgamation of three different organisations, which is always a complex process. I recall long ago when the maternity services in Cork amalgamated, which did not require the setting up of a board, the process was complex. It involved staff who had worked separately and independently in different organisations coming together. In...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Clinical Guidelines for the Introduction of Abortion Services: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: A lot of the issues I wanted to raise have already been raised so I will be very brief. I thank the witnesses for their presentations and for the work they have done and are doing in this area. I know there is a deadline of sorts in terms of 1 January and that they are making every effort to meet it and have everything in place. Dr. Boylan said one MRI scanner is sufficient. Has there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Clinical Guidelines for the Introduction of Abortion Services: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: Who is Dr. Boylan suggesting should call that meeting at this stage?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Clinical Guidelines for the Introduction of Abortion Services: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: The question is who.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Clinical Guidelines for the Introduction of Abortion Services: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: That worries me slightly because I have asked for a similar situation to be set up regarding elderly care where all the stakeholders would be brought together, from GPs, to geriatricians and private providers of elderly care and it has not happened. I have asked the Department on numerous occasions that it would happen. I am concerned that there will be co-ordination on this by the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Clinical Guidelines for the Introduction of Abortion Services: Discussion (19 Sep 2018)

Colm Burke: In view of what has been said here today, I propose that the committee formally write to the Department of Health to ask it to convene a meeting of all parties involved in this matter. It is important that everyone sits around a table at a very early stage. The Department may claim it is waiting for the legislation to be published. However, if it called a meeting today, it would be two...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: I raise an issue following on from the passing by this House of all Stages of the Civil Law (Missing Persons) Bill 2016. The Bill will now go to the Dáil for debate. As a result of the Seanad debate, I have been contacted by a number of people who raised circumstances in which a body is found in Ireland but the remains are not identified. It appears that there is no centralised...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Residential Care (11 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: I do not agree with what has occurred in the past few minutes. In my Commencement matter I call on the Minister for Health to establish a forum on long-term residential care. I recall that I made such a proposal about two years ago owing to increasing pressure on the State to provide long-term residential and respite care. One of the proposals made called for the setting up of a biannual...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Residential Care (11 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: The reason I am raising this issue is that Nursing Homes Ireland and some of the other organisations constantly contact me about situations where they go to the Department of Health and the standard response is that it must go and talk to the HSE. Likewise, when they go to the HSE, the response is that it must go and talk to the Department. Their view is that even if such a forum was to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Hospital Services: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and for their work. In the past three years, since January 2015, we have taken on more than 11,000 additional staff in the HSE. I understand that the numbers have gone from 99,000 to more than 110,000. However, that increase in staffing levels does not seem to have delivered any additional capacity. What are the witnesses' views? Was there a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Hospital Services: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: I have to go the Seanad because there is a health matter I have to speak on. I will be absent from the meeting for about 20 minutes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Hospital Services: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: My apologies for not being here when they gave the replies. Unfortunately, I was in the Seanad dealing with a health issue. On the 11,000 additional staff in the HSE, if there are to be improved levels of employment where we are already talking about over 450 consultants who are not in place and nurses not being in place, within the HSE we still do not appear to be prioritising the...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: Yesterday, despite all the votes taking place in the House, and I was here for most of them, I was still able to attend a conference in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland where Professor Ian Frazer, who developed the human papilloma virus, HPV vaccine, gave a lecture. It is sad that there were protests outside the college and outside the Dáil by people who were alleging that the...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2018: Order for Second Stage (5 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: I move: "That Second Stage be taken now."

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2018: Second Stage (5 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I thank him for bringing forward this important legislation. The 2016 census recorded 195,000 carers in this country, providing more than 6.6 million hours of care. That highlights the extent to which care is being provided within the community. In a lot of cases they are not getting all of the necessary supports. One thing about carers is...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2018: Second Stage (5 Jul 2018)

Colm Burke: Now.