Results 9,201-9,220 of 11,348 for speaker:Colm Burke

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Tax Yield (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: The Minister outlined the issue in regard to the concerns about the corporate tax not returning as much as was originally planned. In regard to planning for the next 12 months, do we need to make sure that we plan carefully for that? Is there an expectation that all the larger companies in Ireland, and indeed all the companies here, are continuing to grow? They are continuing to employ...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: The population has increased by 1.5 million in the past 20 years, or 40%, and there is a need to fast-track the delivery of medical facilities. An increase of 1.5 million people is huge. In Cork, for instance, we have planning for a new paediatric unit and there is also the issue regarding the delivery of elective hospitals. We need now to respond. As the Tánaiste said earlier, there...

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: We have planning for the new paediatric unit.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: I want to raise the issue of nursing home inspections and the challenges being faced in this regard. There is a huge variation regarding funding for public nursing homes and private nursing homes. Do the witnesses see this in their visits to private nursing homes? Obviously, there are far more challenges in private nursing homes because of the fact that they are finding it more difficult...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Yes, I accept that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: In fairness, 41 private nursing homes have closed in the past four years. This is a loss of 1,200 beds, so obviously there are challenges there. Is it coming up as an issue when HIQA does inspections in the sense that corners are being cut because the same level of funding is not available?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: With regard to public nursing homes, for instance, I was speaking in County Kilkenny recently and one of the ratios I saw was that a public nursing home bed costs approximately €2,000 per week. A private nursing home was getting slightly over €1,000. There is a 98.5% differential. Because public nursing homes are getting, obviously, nearly double the money, is HIQA then still...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: The number of beds has been reduced in public nursing homes. As I understand it, the number of staff has not been reduced. How many public beds are there currently and how many were there four years ago?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: With regard to the 5,110 places, is that a reduction on what was available four years ago?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Ms Grogan might get those for me.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: I would appreciate that. HIQA had a problem with discharges out of the hospital in Galway. There was a difficulty with discharges from the hospital because of the fact that contracted beds were not available from the HSE. Is that a problem in a number of other areas as regards getting people out of hospital because there is not sufficient step-down facilities? Is HIQA finding that a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: One of the issues that occurred in the last week of December last year and in early January this year was that an awful lot of contracted beds in private nursing homes were not occupied. Accident and emergency departments were jammed but people were not being discharged, even though there were vacant contracted beds available.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: There is a challenge in all of this about home care at the moment. The big challenge is getting staff. The issue of the number of beds that are occupied by people who could have been discharged consistently comes up. For instance, I knew of three people at one stage in Cork University Hospital, CUH, who could have been discharged. In fact, one was in hospital for 12 months more than he...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Absolutely.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Can I just raise one other issue? It is in relation to someone in a private nursing home or even a public nursing home who has gone downhill and where there is huge pressure being applied for that person to be admitted to hospital. I understand that a number of areas around the country now have teams that go out to visit the nursing home, do an assessment and give guidance on how to care...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: I will raise one final issue about the electronic records. I have come across scenarios where someone is in hospital or care and there are full electronic records in the ward that is dealing with the person. Yet, another section of the hospital will not get involved with the electronic system. Therefore, on the one hand, there is an electronic file and, on the other, there is a manual file...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: HIQA Report 2022: Discussion (4 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Is there not a danger regarding key information when a doctor is on call or if there is a changeover of doctors or nurses? They will come on call, look at the electronic records and will not be aware that there is also a manual file that they are not familiar with. They will therefore rely on what is on the electronic system.

Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive: Financial Statements 2023 (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for attending, presenting and going through the figures. I wish to ask about the figure of €7.8 billion for pay and pensions. Is there a breakdown of the agency and locum costs that were paid out because staff were not available? The HSE spends a great deal of time training people up and down the line, be they care assistants, nurses, administrative staff...

Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive: Financial Statements 2023 (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Not one of those I spoke to had been asked.

Public Accounts Committee: Health Service Executive: Financial Statements 2023 (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: That is not giving me any information about the reasons people are leaving. We are losing some good people and the HSE, the taxpayer and I need to find out why. We are spending a great deal of money on attracting people from abroad to fill vacancies. Why can we not identify why good people are leaving the service?