Results 4,401-4,420 of 11,187 for speaker:Colm Burke

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: There are many different aspects to the contract, including electrical, IT, plumbing and construction work. Where is the biggest challenge with staffing? Is it in any particular area or is it across the board?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Will Mr. Devine give us an idea of the scale of the electrical work because many people do not understand the scale involved? I understand there are 6,000 rooms in the hospital. The electrical side of the work is substantial.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: At what stage is the development of the 22 operating theatres?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: To go back to building inflation, I dealt with a contract in Canada. I referred to his previously. An inflation rate of 15% was built into a project that was to take five years to complete. We have had building inflation across the board, whether for dwelling houses or commercial buildings. What has building inflation been in real terms since 2018,? I am not talking about this contract...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Mr. Gunning is talking of an inflation rate of over 30% in the time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: I know that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Okay. I return to the issue of staffing when the hospital opens. Taking the hospitals all the staff are going to come from, can we get a breakdown of the current make-up of staff in the existing hospitals who will be moving to the new children's hospital? The officials may not be able to give it to me today but could we have that broken down by nursing staff, care assistants, junior...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: One way to judge the size of the project is by the number of staff who are going to be moving in there. Going back over what other people have raised about accommodation, it is a huge challenge. I know of people who worked in the UK, and at every hospital they went to, there was accommodation available to them, and that was more than 20 or 25 years ago. We have done nothing on that. With...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: In overall terms, though, do we need to look at this? It would need to be done now rather than when the hospital opens, because if we want to give the best to the staff and to retain them, then this is going to be a challenge. The rental costs in Dublin, Cork and all the other cities are a challenge. Is now not the time to have a careful plan on this? We have a two-year timeframe in which...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: What is the Department's attitude to this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: I am talking about the Department's overall policy outside the children's hospital. A number of people have contacted me in Cork in the past six months because they are running into serious problems with accommodation. This is especially so if they are on contracts where they are rotating. They might have a five-year contract or be senior registrars. If they have a five-year contract,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: The officials might come back to us on that issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Okay. I thank the Chairman.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their contributions to date. Both Tallaght and Connolly hospitals are finished and up and running and doing very well. Looking outside of Dublin, because all the focus with regard to children's healthcare has been very much about Dublin, we have now got planning permission for the paediatric unit in Cork. Where are we with regard to going forward with the project...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: One of the things we do not want is a situation where people have to go to Dublin when we can provide care in Cork if we have the facility. The problem we now have with the pediatric unit in Cork is that it is no longer adequate for the population in the area. We have got planning permission. The issue is not that we need to get planning and do a design. That is all done. All the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: There is, however, a challenge for the people working in the present paediatric unit in Cork in that they do not have the same access as regards the care they should be able to provide because they do not have an updated facility. What I am saying is that more and more people are being referred to a central hub when, in fact, we should be able to care for them in the hospital in Cork.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: On the timeframe then, is Mr. Quinn-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: We are also looking for an elective hospital in Cork that seems to keep being pushed down the road. Again, it is about growth in population, not only in Cork but in the entire Munster region. More and more referrals are being made to Dublin because of the fact that we are not developing outside of Dublin. We are putting €2 billion, in real terms, into the development of paediatric...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: Okay. I thank Mr. Tierney.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Construction of the National Children’s Hospital: Discussion (5 Oct 2022)

Colm Burke: What of the actual equipment for the theatres? This involves a large project. I am involved in one hospital which wants a piece of equipment and cannot get it until mid-December. Given the number of theatres in the new children's hospital, will the hospital have every piece of equipment it requires for the theatres in 12 months' time? Where are we with that?