Results 2,221-2,240 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2014: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: The amendment is on an extremely important issue. In 2009, Senator Reilly introduced a Private Members' Bill. The then Minister for Health, Mary Harney, at that time in late 2009 or early 2010, undertook to take action on this matter. I subsequently raised the issue in 2012 when I published another Private Members' Bill along similar lines to this Bill. The big concern was about doctors...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2014: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for bringing this Bill through its final Stages. As I said earlier, this matter first came to light in 2008 and 2009 in respect of cosmetic surgery. There was a concern that procedures were being carried out and the medical services here had to pick up the pieces.There were people performing procedures who did not have adequate insurance. Senator James Reilly,...

Seanad: Childhood Obesity: Statements (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for coming forward on this matter. It is a major challenge in this State. The former Senator Eamonn Coghlan, who has a lot of experience around physical activity, always raised the issue of physical activity in schools. We have much work to do in the area of physical activity for children. People have better energy levels, improved self-esteem and mood when...

Seanad: Autism Spectrum Disorder Bill 2017: Second Stage (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House and very much appreciate him being here for this Bill. I thank Senator Reilly for bringing this legislation forward. It is very important. The one warning I would sound relates to the fact that Senator Reilly brought forward a Bill in 2009 when he was a Deputy relating to medical practitioners and the need for insurance. Less than an hour ago, we signed...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and all the work of their various organisations in giving support to people with disabilities. In his presentation, Mr. Brian O'Donnell referred to the education system. One of the issues I have come across over the past few months is the difference between the primary and secondary education systems. While there are a lot of supports at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: We did have a vote there. I apologise for having to leave and I apologise to the speakers for not being here for the reply.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Respite Care Services Availability (23 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I have raised the issue of respite care with him previously, particularly in so far as it relates to Cork. Since the last time I did so, I have been contacted by a number of parents across the country who are having difficulties as a result of what has occurred in the past two or three years in premises where respite care is available...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Respite Care Services Availability (23 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State. In fairness, he has dealt with the issues I have raised but there are one or two fundamental issues that we need to identify, such as the demographic profile of parents who are caring for children. It might not be a bad idea to seriously consider asking an educational institution, such as a university, to conduct research in this area and collate all of the...

Seanad: National Rehabilitation Hospital: Statements (23 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and I thank my colleagues, Senators Boyhan and Hopkins, for raising the matter on a number of occasions over the last number of months. I am extremely concerned that we have people occupying beds in other hospitals nationally who are waiting to get in for rehabilitation. Their families are putting us all under pressure, rightly, because...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Engagement with Mr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety (23 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Commissioner for his presentation. I know that it is a great challenge to deal with health care issues across the European Union because there are various traditions and ways of dealing with issues. I wish to talk about a cross-border health care issue. I was a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009. I headed up the European People's Party group on the Committee...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I support my colleague, Deputy Ivana Bacik, on the issue of white collar crime. It shows that when the events occurred, we did not have the necessary capacity to deal with them. We now need to ensure such events will not occur again and that we will have people adequately trained in how to prepare such an investigation and how to present the findings to the courts in order that they can be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the delegates for their comprehensive presentations which I very much appreciate. I return to the budget of €1.68 billion for disability services. Is that money coming from the health budget or from a number of Departments? There is a health budget of approximately €14 billion. I am not sure whether the sum of €1.68 billion is part of that budget or the social...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: Does Ms O'Connor have a breakdown of the social welfare budget for services for people with disabilities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: It might be useful to know.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I have a question about disability officers in local authorities.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: On the disability officers there was a comparison with North Korea. It is fine to sign a declaration that it will be implemented. I would be careful with the comparison to North Korea's implementation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: If I could clarify something, there are very good people working extremely hard within both local authorities and the HSE to try to ensure that the best quality service is available. With regard to adaptation work on houses, I understand from the Department that there is adequate funding available to local authorities now. If the organisations encounter a situation where a local authority...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 May 2017)

Colm Burke: Today's CSO figures show a continuing increase in the number of people in employment. The number in full-time employment has increased in real terms by 84,000 in the past 12 months. A wide range of people have returned to employment with increases in 11 of the 14 sectors. In the construction industry, there are 11,000 more people in employment. In the IT sector, there has been an increase...

Seanad: Order of Business (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: Today the representative group, Nursing Homes Ireland, NHI, is in Buswells Hotel meeting Oireachtas Members. I encourage Members to meet the NHI if at all possible. The group has raised a number of concerns, in particular the change in the mechanism for the calculation of commercial rates. I spoke to one nursing home provider who told me the home's commercial rates have increased from...

Seanad: Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, to the House and thank her for dealing with this matter. I also thank her for the work she has already done in this area since she became Minister of State and even when she was a Deputy. I pay tribute to both Senators Ruane and Senator Ó Ríordáin for the very passionate speeches they gave. They believe passionately in...