Results 7,921-7,940 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I thank Ms O'Beirne. I will go on to the issue of people coming from abroad. What is Dr. Henry's view on people coming in from abroad? The number of people being identified positive has greatly reduced and we have suppressed the virus. I understand in the UK there is a large number of people being identified positive every day. What is Dr. Henry's view of the best way of managing this...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: If someone is coming in from the UK, he or she is advised to self-isolate for 14 days. Does Dr. Henry think adequate measures are in place to make sure that is followed through on?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Does Dr. Henry believe that adequate measures are in place to ensure that advice is complied with?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: On Tuesday last, the INMO advised that over 8,000 people working in healthcare have been identified as Covid-positive. We have now been advised that over 60% are still on sick leave. Is that an accurate figure in the context of numbers of people who are still on sick leave as a result of being identified as Covid-positive?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Dr. Henry disagrees with the figures furnished to us on Tuesday; he says that 90% have recovered.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Do we have a full breakdown of the 8,180? From what facilities - nursing homes, hospitals etc. - do they come? Is it possible to identify where the 90% have recovered? The figures provided on Tuesday were totally different from those Dr. Henry has given.

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Covid-19: Testing and Tracing (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: How much work will be involved in resuming CervicalCheck? When will we have the full comprehensive service we require? How long will it take to have it fully operational?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I will take ten minutes. I thank the witnesses for their presentations and for all the work that has been done over the past number of months in respect of this matter. Mr. Tattan stated that 200 schools have registered to run the summer education programme. How many schools in Cork have offered to run the it?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Will fewer children be accommodated? What is the reduced number? Schools face significant challenges because there is a different set of rules in real terms for trying to manage these programmes. Can we have some idea of the reduction that has occurred?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Some programmes would normally be run during the summer months or they would have been run in recent months. A reduced number of children will now be accommodated. What percentage reduction are we talking about?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: What kind of numbers of students are we talking about for those schemes?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Is there any breakdown in the figures for Cork city and county?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I would appreciate that. I refer to access to and the availability of broadband. The past number of months has been a very challenging time for parents. On average, taking, for example, 100 families that have children who require special support, what number were not able to get any assistance over recent months because of various problems, such as access to broadband or support services?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I fully accept that and I was not referring to it being used for educational purposes for the child. I am talking about support for parents. Should we be doing much more in this area to make sure that parents have access? Where there are difficulties in getting access to information and supports should we have a particular programme to help parents?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I will move on to SNAs. In recent years, the number of SNAs in primary schools has increased by more than 5,000. In view of the changes that have occurred because of the new challenges posed by Covid, what increase, percentage-wise, do we believe we need to start planning for? The other aspect of this is whether we need to put in place additional training for people working in the area....

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: We have a huge number of young people, many of whom are highly qualified in different areas and not necessarily just in childcare. More than 50% of young people no longer have a job and the next 12 months will be challenging for them. Should we devise a training process for some of those who want to volunteer to come into this area which does not have adequate capacity for training at the...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Special Educational Needs: Impact of Covid-19 (Resumed) (25 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: Is there any plan at the moment within the Department to look at that?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I thank the SIPTU and INMO representatives for coming in this morning and for their detailed submissions, which we appreciate. I also thank their members for all the work they have done over the past three or four months in a very difficult situation. I will touch on one or two items. One relates to the number of people in the healthcare sector who have been affected. Is there a breakdown...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I am asking about the number affected. More than 8,000 healthcare workers have been affected. Is there a breakdown of the settings in which the more than 8,000 who have been affected work, whether in hospitals, nursing homes or mental health facilities?

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Childcare: Impact of Covid-19 (23 Jun 2020)

Colm Burke: I will return to the issue of childcare facilities. Obviously, in a lot of cases, the staff of those facilities were facing a huge problem. The breakdown of the figures shows that where grandparents were looking after children, that more or less stopped once the lockdown came. In terms of the numbers affected, do the witnesses have any information about how people were able to resource...