Results 1,501-1,520 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I am pleased to announce this morning that the Minister for Health is establishing the national rare diseases office. Both Senator van Turnhout and I have been raising this for some time. The Minister confirmed in a reply to a Commencement matter I raised this morning and in a reply by letter that €100,000 has been provided this year for setting up the office, and €200,000 for...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: It is fine to talk about it; we actually act, not talk. We deliver.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: We are delivering in that area. The Senator should keep that in mind the next time he criticises the Minister for Justice and Equality.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Children and Youth Issues: Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (19 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I have raised the matter of children dropping out of the education system with the Minister previously and understand that this falls under the remit of the Department of Education and Skills. However, I had a consultation yesterday with the people providing a centre in Cork which now has 45 children who have dropped out of education attending it. Schools are getting the capitation grant...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Children and Youth Issues: Minister for Children and Youth Affairs (19 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: Nine of the children this year have sat the junior certificate and two sat the leaving certificate applied. That was because of one-to-one education being provided on a voluntary basis by people up there, people who are either studying for their higher diploma or are retired teachers. They are doing the work.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: VHI: Chairman Designate (19 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: Mr. Downey is welcome. I apologies for being late, I was in the Seanad dealing with a health issue. I have read Mr. Downey's presentation, in which he refers to 29 areas in which the VHI has changed the cover it provides from inpatient to outpatient. This is something I have raised on a number of occasions over the last three or four years. Is this process going to continue and does Mr....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: VHI: Chairman Designate (19 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: Thank you.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Housing for People with Disabilities (24 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: The motion I have submitted relates to funding from the Department to the local authority to enable it to adapt local authority houses to accommodate people with physical or intellectual disabilities. I wish to raise one case, in particular. A family with a daughter who has physical and intellectual disabilities applied to Cork City Council to have their house adapted because the child had...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Housing for People with Disabilities (24 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I accept how funding is allocated. My issue is with who is responsible for delivering. Ten days ago I spent an hour on the telephone, going from one person to another within the city council. I went from the official who had inspected the house to the official in charge of finance to the architects' department and back to finance....

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I join with colleagues in welcoming the decision by Apple to develop the facility near Athenry.

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I too welcome the decision by Apple to develop the facility near Athenry. It is important to give recognition to Apple for the contribution it has made to economic development of Cork where it currently employs more than 4,000 people. It is a huge employer and has played a major part in the Cork region. I want to kill the rumour that it moved to Athenry because we overheat in Cork from...

Seanad: Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014: Second Stage (24 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. I thank him for bringing forward this Bill which is a major step in providing redress for the women who were in the Magdalen laundries. Nothing was done for them, even though they had suffered for decades. The Government has now faced up to the issue and the Bill should be seen in a positive light and as a good...

Seanad: Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014: Second Stage (24 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: Next Tuesday.

Seanad: Redress for Women Resident in Certain Institutions Bill 2014: Second Stage (24 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Periodic Payment Orders (25 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I raise the issue of legislation relating to periodic payment orders in the context of a recent presentation made to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children by a parent whose child was severely affected by medical negligence. It was clear at the time of the child's birth that she had been badly affected by the manner of her...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Periodic Payment Orders (25 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for his extremely comprehensive response. I appreciate very much the work done by him, the Minister and their officials in preparing it. The legislation is the way forward and something we should put in place at an early date. I know, however, that the Minister of State cannot give a timeline. However, will we see the draft legislation before the summer recess?

Seanad: Order of Business (25 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I join my colleague, Senator Michael Comiskey, in welcoming the agreement which has been reached on funding. It is extremely important for the region. I raise the matter of the decision of a legal practice in Dublin to act for the tobacco companies. The same legal practice has the main contract for the Health Service Executive. It is outrageous that two sets of rules are now applied by...

Seanad: Health Services: Motion (25 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: I move amendment No. 2: To delete all words after “That Seanad Éireann” and insert: “acknowledges: - the difficulties which overcrowding in emergency departments causes for patients, their families and the staff who are doing their utmost to provide safe, quality care in very challenging circumstances; - that the Government regards the current emergency...

Seanad: Health Services: Motion (25 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: There were 250,000 more people unemployed.

Seanad: Health Services: Motion (25 Feb 2015)

Colm Burke: When Senator Byrne's Government had money-----