Results 561-580 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Feb 2013)

Colm Burke: We are looking to ensure that fair procedures are put in place for dealing with these allowances. Senator Feargal Quinn raised a very important issue relevant to how matters are introduced in the House. There seems to be an attitude in the Department of Health that an issue must be parked for three years before it can be touched. This also relates to the review of the mobility allowance....

Seanad: Confidence in Minister for Justice and Equality and Defence: Motion (27 Feb 2013)

Colm Burke: My colleagues on the Opposition benches should look at the television series "Love Hate" because that is what they left us with in certain areas of the country. We must adjust to responding to that type of society, which is what the Minister is doing. The Fianna Fáil Party was in office for 14 years and the Cork prison issue was constantly being put forward. That party said it was going to...

Seanad: Business of Seanad (28 Feb 2013)

Colm Burke: I have come from a conference entitled, Rare Disorders with Borders, which is dealing with the issue of rare diseases. Today is International Rare Disease Day. This is an important issue because of the lack of support for those with rare diseases. There may only by three or four people in the country who suffer from a particular rare disease and there is a need for more co-ordination...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Ms Emer Costello, MEP (28 Feb 2013)

Colm Burke: I wish to touch on a different matter, the Palestinian issue. I understand Ms Costello has an involvement in that issue in the European Parliament. As one who has visited Gaza, I have raised the issue on a number of occasions. At what stage is the European Union in its efforts to find a solution to the problem between Israel and the Palestinian community? I am particularly concerned about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Ireland's Role in the Future of the European Union: Discussion (28 Feb 2013)

Colm Burke: I apologise for being late. I will focus on Mr. Whelan's presentation and the need for changes in the system of governance. I served in the European Parliament and am familiar with the system. I have tried to get people more involved in the development of policy and particularly what is happening at European level. I am glad to say we have adopted some new strategies, and four MEPs have...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Hospital Services (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alex White, for coming in to take the matter. I ask him to outline the up-to-date position on the provision of urological services for children who have spina bifida and hydrocephalus and, in particular, if arrangements have been made for a consultant paediatric urologist to travel from the United Kingdom on a monthly basis to provide the necessary...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Hospital Services (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for his response and I hope he is right that the position will be filled. My understanding is that it will be difficult to fill the position given that it is a very specialised post and the number of people specialising in the area is small. I note that the Minister of State said arrangements are also being made to establish a regular clinic here with a UK...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I had to make a difficult decision earlier as there is a restriction put on us Senators with regard to turning up to committees while the-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I know, but I had to make the choice as to whether I should attend the committee, as did Senator Crown. I thought it was important to be here to discuss this issue as I had called for it to be debated by the committee and I thank the Chair and the committee for accommodating me. Several issues arise in the context of junior doctors. What level of consultation is taking place currently...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I refer to my questions about attitudes to junior doctors. Their contracts finish in June or December this year. Is there any indication of how many, particularly interns, do not intend to reapply for jobs in the HSE? Does the IMO have any indication whether the 200 doctors from India and Pakistan will be offered contracts once their two years are up? I presume they are represented by the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I would like to make a brief comment. I thought we had faced the crisis in 2011 and that we were dealing with this issue but from what the witnesses have told us, it appears that nothing has changed in recent years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for attending. It is a very difficult task to organise the entire hospital structure and ensure there is an adequate number of doctors. Let me refer briefly to structured training. On the last occasion on which we had a quarterly meeting, I asked for a breakdown of the number of doctors on six-month contracts, 12-month contracts, two-year contracts and three-year...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: The Hanly report said there would be 3,600 consultants by 2012.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: The HSE still cannot provide a breakdown of how many junior doctors are on 12-month, two-year or three-year contracts. If it is as structured as claimed, why can we not get that breakdown?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I asked this question previously and did not get an answer to it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: On the central applications issue, I fully accept that the smaller hospitals make the decisions but the CVs are sent to them before they can make a choice about where to recruit. They are confined in what they can do in this area. I outlined the example of Cavan, which has three vacancies for registrars. The smaller hospitals are not necessarily being given a choice in the CVs that are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I asked two questions. The first was about CVs being sent to the smaller hospitals without them having a say in what CVs are sent to them. While CVs are sent to them, they are selected by a centralised office. The second question is whether there have been discussions with the Medical Council about the doctors in the supervised division. Have there been discussions with the council about...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Pay and Conditions of Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors: Discussion (5 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: The hospitals argue that, previously, they were able to contact people whom they knew were looking for posts. Now they are prevented from doing that.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I raise the issue of the cost of drugs in the health service. It follows on from a detailed report from Susan Mitchell in The Sunday Business Post this week which indicated that in some cases we are now paying 24 times more than what the same drug costs in the United Kingdom. One drug, which is prescribed for patients with a psychiatric complaint, costs the equivalent of ¤50 per treatment...

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: We now find that in some cases we are still paying up to 24 times more than what is being paid in the UK, while in other cases it is ten or 11 times more than what is paid in the UK. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to the House to give an explanation for that. If we are transferring to generic drugs, at the very least we should not pay any more than what is being paid in the UK. The...