Results 9,221-9,240 of 11,348 for speaker:Colm Burke

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

Colm Burke: But we have not identified any of them.

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

Colm Burke: Regarding the €1 billion paid out for agency staff and so forth, can that figure be reduced for the coming year and further on?

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

Colm Burke: My understanding is that there are more than 350 medical locums. Can that number be reduced? How can we fast-track the reduction so that we can have people in posts permanently? Locums are costing us a great deal of money.

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

Colm Burke: How many are there?

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

Colm Burke: Do the witnesses accept that, in many cases, and especially in smaller hospitals, there is a difficulty in recruiting people to fill posts and it is taking much longer?

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

Colm Burke: Have questions been asked as to how the HSE can improve this situation? In some of our smaller hospitals, up to 80% of the medical staff did not go through the Irish university or training systems.

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

Colm Burke: I will move on to section 38 and 39 organisations. Last year, €6.3 billion was paid out. My understanding is that there are approximately 2,500 organisations. Some of them are large, for example, the voluntary hospitals, but some are quite small. Is any effort being made to see how we can get better on this front? In fairness, the organisations are doing a great deal of very good...

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

Colm Burke: Moving on from that, my understanding is the number of beds in public nursing homes has reduced in real terms but the costs continue to go up. Can efficiencies be created in that area? For instance, some of the public nursing homes got an increase of more than 12% under the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, whereas some of the private nursing homes got an increase of 1.5%. That...

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

Colm Burke: I accept that but, for instance, the owners of one nursing home came to me. It is tied by section 38 regulations regarding salaries and everything else but it got an increase of 1.5%. They are now talking about cutting back, reducing the number of beds they are going to provide because they cannot keep going. They are now in a loss-making situation. I acknowledge the NTPF is not under Mr....

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: No.

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 47. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the action his Department is taking to progress the north ring road in Cork city; what level of funding will be allocated for the coming year, in view of the large volume of traffic which is now forced to travel through Mayfield, including traffic heading for the port facilities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43081/23]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 67. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the action his Department is taking to progress the Mallow relief road project; what level of funding will be allocated for the coming year, in view that €100,000 was allocated in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43080/23]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Bus Services (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 170. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the action his Department is taking to improve the bus service in Cork in view that there are recurring issues with reliability and capacity; if additional funding will be provided to improve the service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43199/23]

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Road Projects (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 171. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to provide an update on progress made to date on the Banduff road scheme project; the level of funding that will be provided by the Department for the project in the coming year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43200/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (5 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: 349. To ask the Minister for Health when the review of cardiac services will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43378/23]

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Discussion (11 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: That is fine.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Discussion (11 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: I have a lot of questions I would like to ask, but I can leave it until the next session.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Discussion (11 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: We heard earlier from witnesses who came before the committee to speak about the scope of their authority. I understand that under the 2001 Act, the statutory code of mental health regulations is limited to inpatient services and does not cover outpatient services. In other words, they only cover about 1% of the people involved in mental healthcare. Has the HSE made any recommendations to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Discussion (11 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: What is the view of the HSE in respect of the appointment of one director for mental health services? That is what the Mental Health Commission is recommending. Where are we with that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Review of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services: Discussion (11 Oct 2023)

Colm Burke: Does Mr. Walsh accept that the area he is covering is very wide? It includes community services and mental health services. That is a wide area of responsibility. Is there a need for focus? One issue that has been lost in many debates is that the population of this country has increased by 1.5 million in 23 years. It has gone up from 3.8 million in 2000 to 5.2 million. That is an...