Results 441-460 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Discussion with Fibromyalgia Sufferers of Ireland and Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland (6 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: The cross-border directive approved by the EU in 2011 will lead also lead to problems. The Government has 30 months to implement the directive. If the service is not available here, people will have the right to travel to the UK for treatment. Ideally we should try to resolve the problem now rather than letting it drag on. It has already dragged on for three years.

Seanad: Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister and this Bill. It is important to have proper registration for people who are offering such services. When the review was carried out in 2000 there were only five professional groups subject to statutory registration - doctors, dentists, nurses, opticians and pharmacists. The 2005 Act expanded that to 12 other groups, including clinical biochemists, dieticians,...

Seanad: Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (11 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: On Tuesday, 18 December.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: There are hard and unpopular decisions in respect of this Budget but in health alone, the number of people benefiting from medical cards has gone from over 1.2 million to over 1.8 million. Between medical cards and GP-only medical cards, the figure will be over 2 million by the end of 2013 and funding must be provided for that. It is about trying to get a balance. In fairness, people have...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: The Senator was talking about ¤1 million-----

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: I have no difficulty having a debate on any issue relating to the budget but let us be constructive in dealing with it and deal with each issue about which people have concerns. Let us look at the overall budget and what we are trying to do in respect of achieving balance and fairness. The Commission for Energy Regulation states that the number of disconnections more than doubled last year...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: The Senator supported large investors when her party was in power.

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: There are hard and unpopular decisions in respect of this Budget but in health alone, the number of people benefiting from medical cards has gone from over 1.2 million to over 1.8 million. Between medical cards and GP-only medical cards, the figure will be over 2 million by the end of 2013 and funding must be provided for that. It is about trying to get a balance. In fairness, people have...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: The Senator was talking about ¤1 million-----

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: I have no difficulty having a debate on any issue relating to the budget but let us be constructive in dealing with it and deal with each issue about which people have concerns. Let us look at the overall budget and what we are trying to do in respect of achieving balance and fairness.

Seanad: Youth Work: Motion (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister. I commend the youth workers who put a great deal of time into working with young people and thank them for their work and the contribution that they have made to date and will continue to make in the future. I came into politics directly as a result of being involved in a youth organisation and serving on its national executive when I was only 18 when all of the other...

Seanad: Youth Work: Motion (12 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: I was involved in youth organisations and then went on to run a centre in a project that was funded by FÁS where there were 50 young people who otherwise would have dropped out of school who had problems with literacy and numeracy. Most of these young people were referred to us by the Garda because they had dropped out of the main system of education. When we conducted a survey of those...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: I agree with the call for a public inquiry into this murder. As a member of the legal profession, I know that one of the roles in acting is to ensure that while the role of the people employed by the state, whether it is the police or the army, is to uphold the law from the point of view of the state, the role of the solicitor is to ensure that the state, itself, is upholding the law in the...

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (13 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for bringing forward this legislation, which I welcome. We have been dealing with this issue through statutory regulations since 1994. There have been a number of regulations and pieces of legislation dealing with this issue. This is about formalising what now needs to put in place to deal with the matter into the future. It is important...

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (13 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: The Senator is not entitled to raise this issue. It is not before the House.

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (13 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: It is a requirement.

Seanad: Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2012: Second Stage (13 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: The hospitals will not send back the forms without the---

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: Much debate is taking place on social welfare and health care. On the issue of health care, Health in Ireland: Key Trends in 2012 shows the changes which have occurred. We speak negatively in respect of the health care system here but we need to look at the positive aspects. There has been a 36% reduction in the number of deaths as a result of heart attacks, stroke and certain diseases and...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Hospital Staff (18 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: This motion relates to the appointment of a paediatric urologist. My understanding is that for children who have spina bifida and hydrocephalus there is a severe difficulty in accessing vital urology services. My understanding is that the post of paediatric urologist was advertised but not filled and that while one person was interested in the post the position was not taken up, although it...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Hospital Staff (18 Dec 2012)

Colm Burke: Basically, this is an issue about co-ordination. A parent who contacted me said that in the Cork area there has been a failure to provide regular and comprehensive kidney and bladder assessments to ensure early detection of problems in renal function. This problem needs to be addressed immediately. The failure to address the problem will lead to increased numbers of people with renal...