Results 301-320 of 11,183 for speaker:Colm Burke

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: The Deputy should remember that 422 different centres around the country provide support for people with alcohol or drug addiction. Last year, 13,000 people received treatment for drug addiction and 8,000 people received treatment for alcohol addiction. Those figures are likely to go up. I have visited many of those centres over the last three to four months and each one of them is doing a...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: The target date is for early to mid-December and the construction work has really progressed. I was down there recently - in the last three weeks - and I have seen the work that has been done. The people involved in it are doing everything possible to make sure we can reach that target date of somewhere in the first two weeks of December.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: My understanding is that wastewater can be analysed to see the issue regarding the use of drugs. I am not into the detail of it but it is a mechanism that can be used to identify and to evaluate. Regarding the figures we have, we rely on centres such as all the HSE treatment centres around the country but we do not have a full picture in real terms of the people who are using substances. It...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: On that point, many of the drug treatment centres are helping people to get access to medical services. I visited a number of centres. In one centre, for instance, a GP and nurses are going into the street and getting people into the centre for medical treatment. Many people who have had an adverse event in an accident and emergency department are now afraid of going to an accident and...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: The total budget is €40.5 million. The social inclusion budget has increased by €40.5 million in two years.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: I gave the figures earlier. The drugs budget is €4.2 million and this is for new initiatives in the whole drugs area. The budget for 2025 will be €4.2 million in addition to what is in 2024. The total social inclusion budget is €40.5 million of an increase. It has increased from €220 million to €260 million.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: It is for a whole range of services.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: We are working on a number of projects. For instance, I am working on one project where we talk about transferring a whole lot of services out from night support facilities to a day centre. We are talking about doing that. As I outlined earlier, the supervised injection facility will open in December. There are a number-----

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: That is a fair point because I met someone else yesterday who is in a totally different area and again it is annual rather than multi-annual funding and it is something we need to look at. I have only been in the Department for the last six months and this is an issue that has come up in a number of cases and is something we need to look at, how we can make that decision about it being...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: Yes, it needs to be looked at and I fully accept that.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: I fully accept what the Chair is saying. For instance, with regard to the issue of intimidation the Garda has now appointed more than 30 inspectors throughout the country specifically to deal with the issue of intimidation. In my constituency people have come in to me who are being intimidated by drug dealers. We have appointed 30 Garda inspectors specifically to deal with that issue. ...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 38 - Health (Supplementary) (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: There is €1.5 million additional funding for task forces. The funding will support a co-ordination role of 24 drugs and alcohol task forces across the country including the increased demand for services, especially for due to the use of cocaine. There is an increase but other initiatives are being started.

Written Answers — Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment: Energy Prices (16 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: 31. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment how electricity account credits are provided to households that use solar energy; if they will still receive this credit if their account is in credit already; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42085/24]

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Emergency Departments (15 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: I thank the Senator for raising the important matter of the emergency department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, and welcome the opportunity to update the House on it. The Government and the Minister for Health are committed to the ongoing development of hospitals, such as that in Drogheda. The Government has allocated significant resources to meet the needs of patients using...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Emergency Departments (15 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: I thank the Senator. It is important to recognise that Drogheda hospital is an extremely important hospital, serving the population of the north east. The Senator is correct that the population is increasing and will continue to increase. The staffing levels, as I have outlined, have increased. The budget has increased by more than 27% from approximately €200 million to €260...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service (15 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: In fairness, the response I gave sets out clearly that there is emergency support in relation to the emergency aeromedical services in the west and north west.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service (15 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: As I understand it, the helicopter service is available. Earlier, I addressed the specific issue of emergency care on the islands and spoke about the significant increases in NAS resourcing in recent years. I also outlined the levels of additional investment in 2025 for the NAS following budget 2025. That is an increase of more than €33 million. I will now mention the ambitious...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service (15 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: That has happened on some of the islands, but the programme is progressing. It is how they are responding to make sure that an adequate number of people are trained to deal with emergencies.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service (15 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: There is additional funding in each of these areas. The Deputy will have to accept that over the past four years that funding has benefited the islands. I outlined where ambulances have been provided to the islands.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Ambulance Service (15 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: It is progress that occurred in 2023. There will hopefully be further developments with the budget set out for the coming year.