Results 6,521-6,540 of 11,299 for speaker:Colm Burke

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: The problem is really with the timescale from when tenders are received to when the contract is awarded to the tenderer the Department deems appropriate to undertake the job. Has this aspect been examined in respect of determining whether it can be expedited to secure progress and move these projects forward? I know of other projects, not involving this Department, where there was such a...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: I will move on to issues in planning. I was involved in-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: Regarding the current amount the Department is paying to rent premises, what kind of figure are we talking about in this regard? How far has that changed? The Department has undertaken a major programme to move away from renting prefabs and premises. What kind of amount are we currently paying in this context? What is the target to reduce this figure further over the next three to four years?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: In two years’ time, will that figure be reduced substantially?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: It would also be dictated by long-term planning. If the Department undertook long-term planning, then the need for rentals would not arise.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: Turning to places for children with additional educational needs, many families in my constituency of Cork North-Central have not got places for their children. Has there been engagement with schools in Cork city, and especially in the Glanmire and Blarney area, to ensure that every child will have a place on 1 September? Is the Department satisfied that enough work has been done on this area?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: Families are still coming to me who say that, as of today, they do not have a place for September.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 26 - Education
2018 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 7 - Purchase of Sites for School Provision
2019 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 8 - Management of the Schools Estate (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: If I come back to the Department of Education next week regarding people who do not have a place, who do I contact in that scenario?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: Briefly, this is a difficult area in relation to managing funds, because of the problem with the banks. There is also the issue of investment and the risk of investment. It has been a challenging time for everyone in this area. There are no easy answers to it. A lot of money has been invested. There is the issue of careful management. The other problem that is occurring in relation...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (7 Jul 2022)

Colm Burke: There is an investment committee that gives advice on it in advance.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: If countries looked at the system in the Netherlands or Germany, where the period is 120 days, would we get a better result and drugs available at an earlier date than with current processes?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: I want to come back in on the issue of the price negotiation with the Benelux countries. Germany is able to make drugs available within 120 days, although I know it is a different process. Obviously, Germany is a bigger country with more patients with a rare disease. In Ireland there may be as few as 20 people who need a particular treatment whereas in Germany there might be 2,000 such...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: I thank our guests for making themselves available and for the presentation. I just want to go back to the national rare diseases plan. My understanding is that there is not any one person in the Department of Health who is in charge of national rare diseases at present. Is this causing its own problems for the HSE in regard to progressing the review of the national rare diseases plan?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: However, there is no timeframe.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: Would it not be helpful from the HSE’s point of view to now engage with the Department, first about trying to have a specific person who the HSE could engage with on a regular basis, and second, that there is a clear timeframe put in place about the review of the national plan.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: I wish to just touch on two other issues. One is the cystic fibrosis drug available for children. I think there are about 35 children in the country who require this particular medication and it is not being made available. What is the timeframe for coming to a decision on that particular drug? Second, a steering group for the development of a national genetics and genomics strategy was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: My understanding is there are 35 families in the country. They are writing to us and lobbying us very much on this drug being made available and it is not being made available. I ask that it be reviewed at the earliest possible date.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: I appreciate that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: I thank the Chair. Mr. Woods referred to the genomics issue stating that the committee is set up and so on. I understand we have one specialist in that area per 700,000 of population in the Republic whereas in Northern Ireland it is one per 285,000. This has a significant benefit for the health sector. If we are at that stage here, how long before we could get to a ratio of one to 285,000...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Rare Diseases: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Jun 2022)

Colm Burke: Would the witnesses accept that if we are trying to get a drug approved or we want to make it available, there has to be some connectivity between the medical people here and the medical people in those Benelux countries so that there is co-operation?