Results 10,961-10,980 of 11,348 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Order of Business (7 Nov 2012)

Colm Burke: I welcome the decision by the generic drug manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals to reduce the cost of drugs on the market by over 23%. By contrast, the branded producers have agreed to a reduction of only 7%. The Minister for Health has held negotiations to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals. It is the first step but there are several others we need to take in this area to ensure we can bring...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: The occupancy figures we received were different.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: In fairness to the insurance companies and for clarification, in many cases there is no proper structure in the HSE. I will give a simple example. The Chairman spoke about consultants signing off. In some hospitals staff refuse to pull files for people to sign off on them. There are no proper procedures in place. This has not just happened this year and last year. It has been going on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: This was the first new facility in Cork in 60 years. I do not understand the logic.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I will return to a point I raised earlier about competition among health care providers as opposed to health care insurers. If one restricts the number of health care providers, one will automatically keep up the level of costs they can charge. I make no apologies for filing a complaint with the Competition Authority on this matter because I certainly thought the case was anti-competitive....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I know there is competition among insurance companies but if there is no competition among the health care providers and if the authority considers it has no role in that, insurance will continue to increase. It is an issue which needs to be dealt with. I saw this in one area where there was one dominant player which did everything possible to ensure no competition was introduced. It was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I am not sure of the issues I raised were outside the remit of the witnesses. They were not dealt with and I wonder whether the witnesses could refer to my questions on competition within the health care sector.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: The issue about competition in the health care sector concerns a situation where an insurer decides to limit the number of beds it would cover. This creates a false market in that it prevents competition from arising.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: They are competing with other insurers but it is a problem if we do not have enough people providing health care.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I may be going into an area which is slightly outside the witnesses' remit. It concerns competition within the health care sector.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Insurance Sector: Discussion (25 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I am talking about the private health care sector. On the one hand, if the number of beds is increased, the level of competition increases, which could assist in reducing price. On the other hand, if the number of beds is increased, we are then creating a cashflow problem for the insurers in the sense that the more services provided, the more demand is placed on those services. It is about...

Seanad: National Dementia Strategy: Motion (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: The Minister of State is welcome to the House. While listening to this debate it occurred to me that approximately one third of all debates in the House are directly related to health care. This emphasises the importance of the issue and I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this extremely important motion. It is an area on which we need to focus and bring about the necessary...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Garda Vetting (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: My concern is where the HSE employs a company, which may be tax resident in Ireland. Does the amendment confuse the matter where the worker, while employed by the company, may not be resident for tax purposes in Ireland? It could cause complications.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Garda Vetting (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I agree with my colleague, Senator Gilroy. Courts have given interpretations to the words "conduct" and "practice". They have two different interpretations. The Minister's amendment is being put forward because we have interpretations. The reason this amendment is being tabled is to ensure there is no misinterpretation in court proceedings at a future date or in any kind of hearing in...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Garda Vetting (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: The proposal is that the words "such opinion being corroborated by independent written medical advice," be inserted. I am a little concerned as the proposal does not make any provision, for example, if a person refuses to turn up to get independent medical advice. The legislation would not provide for any requirement for the person to turn up and the Minister could therefore be caught in a...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Garda Vetting (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I support what Senator Gilroy said. The amendment is well intentioned As explained earlier by Senator Gilroy and the Minister, we are setting up a transitionary structure and to go through the process of advertising every position that will have to be filled would take too long and would slow down the whole process. When an entity is being restructured, the Minister has to have a fair...

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: Tá.

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: My apologies.

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: Tá.

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Report and Final Stages (24 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: My apologies.