Results 7,001-7,020 of 11,299 for speaker:Colm Burke

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Even at the end of that letter, it is saying that this excluded any third party costs that may arise. Are they still pending? The other issue is, I presume a lot of these cases would be dealt with by the Chief State Solicitor's office or the Attorney General's office. The work may have been farmed out to private legal practices but surely we should have an idea of what is actually...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: I am not sure.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Would the State Claims Agency be able to give us the information?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Can I raise one issue on that?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: It is regarding the employment of people who provide home tuition. They are paid by the Department of Education but are regarded as self-employed. Even though they are classified as self-employed, if they put money into a pension it is not tax-deductible. They are having serious problems as regards what they can and cannot do. While the money is paid to them to by the Department of...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Pardon?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: I understand they are on an S stamp.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (27 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: I have raised a number of questions on this over the past 12 months and will continue to raise them because it is causing huge problems.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation: Regional Health Areas Advisory Group (26 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: I thank Mr. Kearns for the presentation. I refer to the issue of structure. Am I correct that capital projects will still have to be signed off at central level? What will be the view on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation: Regional Health Areas Advisory Group (26 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: The big problem in the southern region is that it has been slow in getting funding for any project. As a result, people must travel to Dublin to gain access to many services. In Dublin, there are many more independent hospitals. They have been able to get access to funding whereas we have not had the same opportunities in Cork. A simple example is that while planning permission has been...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation: Regional Health Areas Advisory Group (26 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: That is what is in place at the moment. The South/Southwest Hospital Group has put forward its proposals on the new elective hospital, paediatric unit and ophthalmology unit, but we still find getting funding involves an extremely slow process. Is Mr. Kearns saying there will be a separate finance structure for each of the RHAs? Salaries are all paid from a centralised service at the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation: Regional Health Areas Advisory Group (26 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Let me deal with management. Since December 2014, the HSE’s number of whole-time equivalents has increased from 103,000 to 135,000 or 136,000, which means 150,000 or 160,000 people overall. There has been a huge increase in the number of administrative staff across the board. Does Mr. Kearns feel we will end up with another round of administrative staff increases? How do we deal...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation: Regional Health Areas Advisory Group (26 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Yes, absolutely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation: Regional Health Areas Advisory Group (26 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: We thought that would happen with the HSE when we created one structure and moved away from the health board structure. In fact, the number of people in administration grew substantially meaning that we had the opposite result. Will we have the same thing here when we go back to six different structures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Sláintecare Implementation: Regional Health Areas Advisory Group (26 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: When the health service needed to deal with Covid, it provided services very well. We need to do what Mr. Kearns is saying and bring everyone with us because that is exactly what happened with Covid. Management, medical people, nursing staff, care assistants and everybody else worked extremely hard to deliver. We can deliver a very efficient service, but we need to ensure the leadership is...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Amalgamation (8 Nov 2022)

Colm Burke: My colleague, Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan, has set out the matter clearly. It appears there has been very poor communication with the parents of the pupils of St. Vincent's Secondary School, particularly the parents of children with additional needs. There is a very good educational structure in place in the school for 24 pupils with special needs. It takes a bit of time for children...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Schools Amalgamation (8 Nov 2022)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister for her reply. When an amalgamation is going ahead it is about whether the Department makes sure that all the boxes are ticked especially in respect of consultation. I am concerned that there does not seem to be a process within the Department making sure that all the boxes are ticked particularly in regard to consultation. As I said at the start I received a letter...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (8 Nov 2022)

Colm Burke: 81. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if consideration will be given to extending the quota for employment permit applications for the role of dairy farm assistant, in view of the fact that dairy farmers are having difficulty in recruiting employees, and taking into consideration that employment permit applications for this role have been returned since the quota was...

Written Answers — Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: Work Permits (8 Nov 2022)

Colm Burke: 82. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of employment permit applications for the role of dairy farm assistant that have been returned, in view that the 100 general employment permits established under this quota for dairy farm assistants have now been granted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54604/22]