Results 1,241-1,260 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medical Indemnity Cover (25 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: When I was contacted, I was advised that the MPS might withdraw from providing cover in Ireland - that occurred in Australia. A representative of that organisation telephoned me this morning to clarify that it did not intend to withdraw from providing insurance cover in Ireland. However, that also happened with the Medical Defence Union when it withdrew from Ireland, which left its own...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Adoption in Ireland: Discussion (26 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Many of the issues I wanted to raise have already been raised. On average, how long does it take for people to get a certificate of suitability, from the date they apply to the date the assessment is completed? What is the average time from the date a person is deemed to be suitable and has the appropriate declaration to the date of adoption?...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Expanding the Role of the Pharmacy: Irish Pharmacy Union (1 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank Mr. O'Loughlin for his comprehensive presentation. On the issue of working with patients, the appendix refers to a new medicines service that would involve follow-up for patients who are prescribed new medicines. Is such a services up and running and, if so, how well is it operating and how can it be improved? What is being done to proactively promote this type of change? On the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Expanding the Role of the Pharmacy: Irish Pharmacy Union (1 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: My question is on the medicines review service. What needs to be done to have that up and running? I am a little unclear about what needs to be done. The deputation made reference to what is happening in Scotland and elsewhere in the United Kingdom. What do we need to do here to put that in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Expanding the Role of the Pharmacy: Irish Pharmacy Union (1 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: Have we had discussions with the HSE at this stage or is it in limbo?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Expanding the Role of the Pharmacy: Irish Pharmacy Union (1 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: We should have rolled out the new medicine service years ago. It is a very important proposal and should be followed through.

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I fully agree with the comments of Senator John Crown. My understanding, following an Adjournment debate two weeks ago, is that a new application for approval had been submitted by the drug company and it is being considered. Hopefully, the drug will be made available in the not too distant future. This is a matter of utmost importance to the people who require the drug. The sooner a...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister for bringing forward the legislation. I also thank all of the people who were involved in his Department and the people on the legal side. This is a very technical Bill. It is important that it is brought through but it must also provide the necessary protections and the Bill covers all of them. Once the Bill is fully operational, perhaps in three or four years' time,...

Seanad: Health Identifiers Bill 2013: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (2 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I propose the suspension of the House until 3 p.m.

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Second Stage (2 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State and join my colleague in wishing him well during the next seven days. It is important to place on record the figures relating to medical cards. I have consistently stated - I will continue to say it - that since we entered office in 2011, the number of medical cards in circulation has increased by over 217,000, from 1.73 million to 1.951 million. The Bill...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Second Stage (2 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: The point I am making is that when we are looking at consultants' salaries, we look at the gross figures. When we consider the salary compared to that in England, we should note there is a primary salary initially and that one is paid for any additional work taken on. The starting salary of a consultant in England might be £80,000 but additional sums are added, which brings the figure...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Second Stage (2 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Fund Bill 2014: Second Stage (2 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and welcome Senator MacSharry's Bill. I know from my involvement in drafting that there is significant work involved in drafting any Private Members' Bill and I pay tribute to him and those who worked with him in producing the Bill. It is important to remember that the introduction of a Bill creates debate, and the Senator has certainly put...

Seanad: Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Fund Bill 2014: Second Stage (2 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: No, it is not agreed. As I understand it, we have a problem with the EU directive on the matter.

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Financial Matters) Bill 2013: Second Stage (3 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House. This Bill is another step in the reform programme, as the Minister has outlined. It clearly sets out the manner in which we are bringing the budget back under the control of the Department of Health under the Minister. This is the right decision in moving forward in how we manage our health service. In view of what has occurred in the health service...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Fertility Issues: National Infertility Support and Information Group (3 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank Ms Fitzpatrick for her presentation which I read before the meeting. She refers to regulatory issues. I understand all infertility clinics are registered with the Irish Medicines Board, which applies strict criteria when carrying out inspections of clinics. Is that not the case? I also understand that inspections take two or three days and involve going through every item,...

Seanad: Order of Business (Resumed) (8 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the election of Joan Burton as leader of the Labour Party. The past three years has been a very difficult time to manage the budget. We pay out more than €400 million a week in social welfare week or €57 million per day. That is a huge budget which has been well managed for the past three years, and an area that the Minister tackled very well was fraud. Yesterday a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on European Union Affairs: Italian Presidency of Council of European Union: Italian Ambassador (8 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I apologise for my late arrival which is due to a number of votes in the Seanad. I welcome the ambassador and wish the Italian Presidency every success in the next six months. The issue I wish to raise is mentioned in the ambassador's submission, that is, health care and health research. He referred to the Dublin declaration of ten years ago on the issue of a joint approach in dealing...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: In regard to an issue of importance for members of the Joint Committee on Health and Children, I ask the Leader if he can bring the Chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts into this House. The Committee of Public Accounts has written to the Joint Committee on Health and Children to tell us we cannot deal with any of the organisations that are funded by the HSE. Approximately 25% of the...

Seanad: Health (General Practitioner Service) Bill 2014: Committee Stage (9 Jul 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for the work that he has done. I note there will be some changes but, in fairness, all of the Ministers at the Department of Health, Deputies Reilly, White and Kathleen Lynch, have been extremely innovative and hardworking in dealing with the Department over the past few years. There is a lot of work done, but a lot of work still to...