Results 8,201-8,220 of 11,246 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: The Future of Europe and the Value of European Union Membership to Ireland: Statements (5 Mar 2019)

Colm Burke: Tomorrow morning at 10.30 a.m.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Office of Public Works Properties (28 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I am raising the issue of vacant property owned by the OPW. This first came to my attention some months ago when I found that in the Blarney area there was a house that had previously been used by the Garda and had been vacant for over 20 years. The house had not been lived or used by anyone over that period. When I did a Land Registry search, I found that the property is in a folio...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Office of Public Works Properties (28 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: On the property in Blarney, I am not clear where the officials got their information. My information is that the property was vacant for over 20 years. Maybe somebody was put down as occupying it but the reality is that it was vacant. The current Garda sergeant in Blarney, with whom I engaged on this matter, was not even aware that such a property existed; indeed, no garda currently...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Building Projects Applications (27 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I, too, welcome the Minister of State and thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to deal with this matter. It concerns a school that has over 350 pupils and 75% of the accommodation of which consists of prefabs. I was in it in the last two weeks and in quite a number of the rooms there were clear marks on the ceilings where water was coming in. The process of applying through...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Building Projects Applications (27 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate the detailed reply very much and accept that the Department has worked well to try to progress the matter. It is important to acknowledge that there will be a saving with the new project in the following sense. If the school was to be built on the existing site, quite a number of prefabs would have to be moved to a new site while the building...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: School Building Projects Applications (27 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Review (26 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath for coming to the House to deal with the issue pertaining to the nursing homes support scheme, known as the fair deal scheme. As I understand it, a review was to be carried out but the representative organisation, Nursing Homes Ireland, and all those involved in providing nurse home care under the fair deal scheme were led to believe that...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Review (26 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State. My only concern is with the definition of "shortly". This matter has been going on since 2016. There are complex issues involved. The problem we now have is that there are complex cases in the private nursing homes sector. These homes are not being funded to the same level as HSE-run facilities. To give the Minister of State an example, I know of two units...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I want to raise the issue of supervisors and assistant supervisors on community employment, CE, schemes. In Cork last Monday, there was a protest outside the offices of Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in respect of a Mandate decision in July 2008. There was a recommendation that supervisors and assistant supervisors would be brought in under a pension scheme. In...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (20 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: -----will proceed and will be delivered on. This is the reality. We have identified the projects which will be affected by the €100 million cut. They are clearly identified and they are set out in writing

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (19 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: Members of this House raise issues of concern but it is also important to raise good news stories. I refer to the CSO figures which have just been released and which show the highest ever number of people working in this country, at 2.28 million, with the number of additional jobs created in the past 12 months standing at 50,500. Some 48,000 of the latter are full-time jobs. This means...

Seanad: Personal Injuries Assessment Board (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2018: Second Stage (12 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister. The insurance industry has brought about and lobbied for a substantial change in the law. We have a situation where insurance companies still make substantial profits from premiums and we have not seen a significant reduction in insurance premiums over the years. There have been many changes, including the abolition of juries, the changes of procedures in courts and...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I am very impressed by the presentations that have been made here in respect of the children's hospital by people who do not know what they are talking about. This project began in 2007 but the wrong site was identified because politics was played with it. The Mater Hospital site was chosen but An Bord Pleanála refused to grant planning permission.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: The former leader of Fianna Fáil, Bertie Ahern, appeared on a radio programme on Sunday last and Conor Lenihan, a former Deputy, was also in the public domain claiming that this Government changed the location of the hospital. That is not correct. An Bord Pleanála set out the reasons that the hospital could not be built on the Mater site. Let us get that clear.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: Let us get that clear.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: I know that the Senators do not like to hear-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: The Senators do not like to hear the truth.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: The second issue-----

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: The second issue is that the planning permission refusal happened in February 2012.

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (5 Feb 2019)

Colm Burke: Planning permission was refused in February 2012. Planning permission for the new hospital was granted in April 2016. In that period, the plans were drawn up and the bill of quantities was sent out to the builders to enable them to quote. However, the minute detail was not set out because it would have taken 12 months to facilitate this. I wish to give Senators an idea of the scale of...