Results 10,321-10,340 of 11,348 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State and the officials in all the Departments involved with the matter. It is an important step. We have much catching up to do, as I mentioned in a previous debate on the matter. In Denmark, the computerisation process began in 1994. We have 1,700 different computer systems in the health area but in Denmark they have 27 and are working to a target of five or six...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: Does the Bill adequately cover the situation of someone with dementia, particularly if there is no court order or enduring power of attorney in place? Have we adequately covered all the problems that might arise? While the amendment is welcome it is also important that those situations are adequately catered for, particularly enduring power of attorney, and even powers of attorney, because...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I fully support the Minister and I do not support the amendment. I have raised this matter in the House previously. A 1976 High Court decision decided that nursing home care came under the definition of medical care. As a result people received an entitlement that was not intended when medical cards were introduced. Likewise, this section states that having an identifier number does not...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rare Diseases Strategy Implementation (11 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rare Diseases Strategy Implementation (11 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I apologise for being late. I was awaiting a reply to a question at the health committee. This issue is about the provision of a national office for rare diseases. Much work is being done in this area and I was asked to raise this issue in view of the fact that there would be a national conference in Belfast at the end of the month and that it would be helpful if we could have some idea...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Rare Diseases Strategy Implementation (11 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply and apologise, again, for being late. I understand there are many demands on his Department; however, having worked with a number of the organisations, we should do everything possible to progress this matter. If the national plan was published, it would help. Is it possible for the Minister of State to give any guideline as to when...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Neurological Health Issues: Discussion (11 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank each witness for the very comprehensive presentation and the work they are doing. I fully appreciate that it is very difficult area. Deputy Ó Caoláin referred to the issue regarding Cork. If the people have been interviewed, does anybody understand why the appointments have not gone ahead? The people to fill the vacancies seem to have been selected. The worry is that if...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: Nursing Homes Ireland launched a report this morning entitled Health’s Ageing Crisis: Time For Action, A Future Strategy for Ireland’s Long-Term Residential Care. It highlights the challenges we will face over the next few years in respect of the growing number of people over 65 years of age. For example, there is an interesting statistic indicating that by 2021 there will be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: It would be easy to amend the proposed legislation in order that we deal with that issue. We should take a proactive approach to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I inquired earlier as to whether any progress had been made on the issue relating to smartphone apps.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank all the contributors for taking the time and effort in preparing their contributions. Some constructive proposals have been made this morning. As we sit here today, 14 people per day in real terms will die either at home or in hospital as a direct result of smoking and smoking-related illnesses. That is a conservative estimate and that is where we are coming from as a health...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (6 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the witnesses and thank them for all the work they have done and are doing in this area. It is very valuable and they are making a huge contribution in this regard. One point on which I wish to touch is the high level of smoking within the poorest socioeconomic areas. How do the witnesses think this issue can be tackled? While legislators can make all the changes in legislation...

Seanad: Order of Business (5 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: On the failure to appoint hospital consultants, when the rules applying to consultant contracts were changed in 2012 I stated the new structure would not work. I have been proved correct as a number of vacancies for hospital consultants remain unfilled, including a consultant post in paediatric urology in Dublin, specifically to deal with children with spina bifida. This post has been...

Seanad: Charities Sector: Statements (4 Feb 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House and I welcome his decision to commence the provisions of the Charities Act by appointing a board and an interim CEO, and having staff in place by Easter, which is an important step in this area. When we came back here in August 2013, for some reason I started getting phone calls from people complaining about moneys being paid to a number of different...

Seanad: Humanitarian Situation in Syria, South Sudan and Central African Republic: Statements (30 Jan 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State and his separtmental staff for the contribution that they have made to all of these complex issues which are not easy to resolve. I have sat on the foreign affairs committee and human rights committee in the European Parliament and in 2008 I spent six days in Chad. I visited the refugee camps which included Goz Beïda and Abéché that had 500,000...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2013: Discussion (Resumed) (30 Jan 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank all the witnesses for their comprehensive presentations and the work they are doing. I am concerned that it is 50 years since the first major report was published in the United States setting out the real risks of smoking and the health difficulties is was causing. While we have moved on somewhat in 50 years, we have not really got the message across to a large percentage of the...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Second Stage (29 Jan 2014)

Colm Burke: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Second Stage (29 Jan 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House and I welcome this Bill. It is an issue I have spoken about a good deal in the past five years, particularly because I have examined the Danish, Finnish and Swedish systems, which are way ahead of ours, and other systems internationally, including the United States, on the issue of e-health. The Danes started developing their system as far back as 1994;...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: Order for Second Stage (29 Jan 2014)

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

Seanad: Order of Business (29 Jan 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome this morning's job announcement in the Cork region, the fourth such announcement in the past seven days. It indicates that the way we are running the economy is having a positive effect on investors who now have the confidence to invest in this country again. While I always welcome Senator Rónán Mullen's contributions in the House, I advise him that issues such as the...