Results 10,741-10,760 of 11,348 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Mobility Allowance: Statements (21 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank Senator Marie Moloney for raising this issue and the Leader for allowing a debate on it. It is an important issue that has to be dealt with. As many in receipt of the allowance are concerned, it is important that its future be clarified at an early date. There seems to be a tendency in some Departments to hope that when certain issues are raised, they will go away. I have referred...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: They are being tackled.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: Today is the eighth World Down Syndrome day. We should send a message to the parents and families of people with Down's syndrome thanking them for the support they have given them over the past 20 years. Services have developed to support those who have Down's syndrome. We should also thank those with Down's syndrome for the joy they bring to their families, which they have done for many...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Schools Building Projects (20 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am disappointed the school has not been included in the five-year programme. As I said, we have full planning permission, so there is no further waiting time in that regard. In view of the fact we have full planning permission, it should be taken up as a project which is ready to roll. We have full planning permission, have a site which is...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Schools Building Projects (20 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter at short notice. This is the third or fourth night on which we are the last people in the House. I hope we have not set a precedent for the rest of the year. My Adjournment matters relates to Scoil Íosagáin, Farranree, County Cork which has over 400 primary school students but does not have a facility for any activity other than its...

Seanad: Restorative Justice Process: Motion (20 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank my colleague, Senator Conway, for bringing forward this motion. I fully support and second the motion. This issue is something we need to address in this country. That is something we have not done in real terms. There has been little if any major reform of the criminal justice system and little has been done to see if there is a...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I join with my colleagues in congratulating fellow Corkman, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, for the work he has done on CAP reform. It also goes back to his own experience of working in the European Parliament and the mechanism that works in Europe about negotiation and compromise. In achieving that compromise, he has done a good deal for Ireland....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Tackling Childhood Poverty: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: My apologies for not being here this morning. Unfortunately, I had a matter to raise on the Order of Business in the Seanad. I congratulate the witnesses for the work they are doing. I have heard much about the project which I must visit because it is the only way to see the work on the ground. I am in a constituency where the problem is not on the same scale as Ballymun. There has been...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Finance to the House so we can discuss all the issues and show that we are approaching it in a balanced and focused way, to ensure that by the time the Government finishes its term three years hence we will have the issue resolved.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I also welcome the election of the new Pope and wish him well in his future years. As someone who has visited many developing countries, I have seen the incredible work the church is doing on the ground. A member of my family is working in a school with a pupil teacher ratio of one to 70 but still that school can provide a full meal to each pupil every day. There are four schools feeding...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: There is plenty of positive news, on which we must focus. Let us stop being alarmist. Yes, we have to deal with the mortgage arrears crisis and----- (Interruptions).

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: -----we are dealing with it in a balanced and focused way.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Health Service Staffing (13 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I very much appreciate the reply. It is specifically the Minister, Deputy Reilly's, area. I am still at a loss as to how we can offer two-year contracts to persons outside this country and we cannot get information about what two-year contracts are in existence with Irish graduates. I am at a loss as to how we can offer two-year contracts in this way when we cannot do the same with junior...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Health Service Staffing (13 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Health Service Staffing (13 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: The matter I wish to raise is a new agreement I discovered by accident which has been reached between the HSE and the universities in Pakistan. There is a need to bring the information into the public domain as we got no indication that this was happening. I raise the issue given that more than 200 people were brought in here in 2011 from India and Pakistan under the supervised division...

Seanad: Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013: Second Stage (13 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister and this Bill. I thank Senators Bacik and Power for the work they have done in this area. Some people get frustrated at times with how long it takes to get legislation passed. I remember starting the campaign to abolish the status of illegitimacy back in 1980, which is before many of the people here this evening were born and even the Minister, Deputy Kathleen Lynch,...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: Following on from what Senator Marc MacSharry said in regard to the banks, it is important that a structure be put in place for dealing with the issues faced by many borrowers. I am concerned at the lack of joined-up thinking by all banks in regard to how they approach those who are in serious difficulty. I understand that different rules operate if the borrower employs a solicitor to speak...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Tackling Childhood Poverty: Discussion (12 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank all of the witnesses for the presentations today. This is an important issue. I wish to touch briefly on a few matters. In the past ten to 15 years an amount of money has been spent on the improvement of services. Do the witnesses believe we could have achieved a lot more given what we invested? That is something we must examine because I do not wish to see the same mistakes made...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: On the matter raised by Senator Colm Burke, as I indicated, the Minister for Justice and Equality will publish a family relationships and children's Bill later this year. Senator Norris spoke of calm, serious and respectful debate. It is a pity we do not often have that type of debate in the House, especially on the Order of Business.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I remind Senator MacSharry that-----