Results 9,381-9,400 of 11,654 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Report on Dying, Death and Bereavement: Statements (4 Jul 2017)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister and wish her every success. I had the pleasure of working with her on the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health for five years and I certainly learned a lot from working with her. I look forward to working with her in her new role as Minister. I thank Senator O'Donnell and all who have helped her in producing this publication. There is a lot of research in it and it...

Seanad: Report on Dying, Death and Bereavement: Statements (4 Jul 2017)

Colm Burke: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Update on Health Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I congratulate the Minister and Ministers of State, and wish them every success. I am delighted that a Minister of State from Cork is dealing with the Department of Health. I look forward to working with everyone. I refer to future planning of hospital services for Cork. I note the last line of the report I received. As I have said, the population of Cork city and county has increased...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Administration (28 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate him again. I wish him every success in his new role as Minister of State. I must deal with two people from west Cork this morning and I am sure it will make my job that much easier.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Administration (28 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: The matter I wish to raise is the fair deal scheme and its current structure whereby someone admitted to a nursing home who is an owner would have that land taken into account in calculating the assessment of payment towards nursing home charges. I know of two cases. One is a very sad case as a person who owned land died and the land passed back to the mother; she is now in a nursing home....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Administration (28 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: The Minister of State touched on the point that in the case of sudden illness, the person comes in under the fair deal scheme. The case I was referring to is a case of Parkinson's disease, which, as he will be aware, is a gradual illness. In that case, the person is now being penalised. The person who is in the nursing home obviously cannot predetermine what illness he or she gets. The...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I support Senator Norris and his Bill. I am not necessarily supporting the Bill completely but it is an issue with which we must deal. There are over 32,000 families with difficulties repaying mortgages. Their financial position has not changed a great amount in the past few years and we now need to deal with the issue. We have a new problem in that with the flotation of shares in AIB,...

Seanad: Home Care Services: Motion (28 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State. I am not following him, but this is our third time to run into each other today in various debates. This is an important issue in how we plan health services. While over €760 million has been put into older people services, of which €373 million is for home care provision, it is a service we will have to continue to grow for several years....

Seanad: Home Care Services: Motion (28 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: Next Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I, too, want to raise the issue of elderly care. We often apply rules and regulations without compassion. I believe that has occurred in this case. This needs to be resolved as a matter or urgency, particularly in the case of this couple who are married and have lived together for over 63 years and, owing to the manner in which regulations are being implemented, are not now to be...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Consultant Recruitment (22 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I wish to raise the issue of hospital consultant post vacancies that currently exist in hospitals. It is my understanding, from the information I have received, that there are some 400 vacancies for consultant posts. As the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, will remember, in 2011-12 there was a cut in consultant salaries of up to 30%. That has not changed because it was a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospital Consultant Recruitment (22 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister. I am afraid I do not necessarily agree with the contents of the reply. The information that I have is that we still have a major problem in that the number of people applying for posts is drastically reduced, and the number of posts advertised which attracted no applicants. I have been consistently looking for exact details of vacancies in hospitals since 2012. I got...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I wish to raise the issue of orphan drugs and rare diseases. Approximately 370,000 people in Ireland are affected one way or another by rare diseases but only 5% have a licensed treatment option. Our main problem relates to orphan drugs, namely, drugs that are made available, are still being worked on and are expensive to develop. Of the 148 orphan drugs available to people with rare...

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: In fairness, the Minister of State has outlined where he is coming from within the Government and his Department, and that is about the visibility and making sure that what is passed in the House can be implemented in full within a timeframe. The Minister of State has outlined the three key issues that he wants to move forward with. With regard to the whole sign language area we need to set...

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: I agree with the Minister of State in the sense that, if we want to progress this matter for everyone's benefit, it is important that we work together instead of trying to score political points. Long before Deputy Finian McGrath became a Minister of State, he was to the fore in highlighting disability issues.

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: Senator Mark Daly's party was in power for 14 years-----

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: -----and not a thing was done about this. I would say on this matter-----

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: In fairness to the Minister of State and all parties in government, we want to progress this matter and deliver on every aspect that is passed by the House. It is important that we progress this issue, give ISL recognition,-----

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: -----give it the legal status that it deserves and provide backup services. That is exactly what the Minister of State and the Department want to do.

Seanad: Recognition of Irish Sign Language for the Deaf Community Bill 2016: Committee Stage (21 Jun 2017)

Colm Burke: Senator Conway mentioned Dublin Bus. Paragraph (g) of amendment No. 3 reads: "a company (within the meaning of the Companies Acts) a majority of the shares in which are held by or on behalf of a Minister of the Government." Therefore, a public body would mean that that is covered by the section.