Results 8,681-8,700 of 11,246 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: An Bille um an Séú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht 2018: An Dara Céim - Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018: Second Stage (27 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister and thank him for steering this Bill through Dáil Éireann before introducing it in the Seanad tonight. The legislation proposes to afford the electorate an opportunity to give their decision on whether the eighth amendment to the Constitution should be left in place or removed. The purpose of the debate is to allow Senators to discuss the Bill to facilitate...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: The issue I wish to raise relates to the provision of home care. I have raised it on a number of occasions. There is a need to grow the service across the country because more people will require home care and we want to keep people out of hospitals and nursing homes. My concern is the policy of the HSE at present. I understand that the HSE cost per hour to provide home care is...

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: They are paying the staff the same rate as the HSE.

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: They are and if the Senator wishes to debate it I have no problem-----

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: If the Senator wants the taxpayer to pay €35 per hour-----

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I have no problem with €35 per hour being charged to the taxpayer but it is important that the taxpayer realises-----

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: It is important that the taxpayers realise what is happening. It is costing the HSE €35 per hour to provide home care per hour per patient. There is now a policy in the HSE of stopping people from the private sector without any cost analysis of what it is costing the taxpayer to provide that home care. I am seriously concerned about that. I can give another example relating to the...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Care of the Elderly (21 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State. I very much appreciate him dealing with this matter, which relates to the increase in demand there will be for home care now that we have an increasing number of older people in the country. That number will continue to increase at a dramatic pace in the next ten to 12 years. The figures, as I understand them, indicate that 637,000 citizens are over 65....

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Care of the Elderly (21 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State. He has acknowledged that there will be a substantial increase in the demand for home care. In the context of the national strategy framework for health and social workforce planning, do we have a five-year or ten-year plan to develop this service or are we merely going from year to year? My concern is that it is the latter.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I join my colleague, Senator Gavan, in his tribute to Liam O'Flynn and the contribution he made to Irish music over a long number of years. He is a huge loss. It is important that we give recognition to those who have made a major contribution in the promotion of Irish music over a long period. I have raised with the Leader on a number of previous occasions my concerns regarding the issue...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Evaluation of the Use of Prescription Drugs: Discussion (21 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I thank those who have presented here this morning for the work they are doing. We appreciate their commitment to trying to improve the health care sector. As the Chairman has outlined, we decided to look at the increase in the prescribing of drugs on foot of media coverage of the issue. According to the paper submitted by Professor Fahey, the percentage of people over the age of 65 to...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Civil Marriages (8 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House to deal with this matter. In the past few months a number of people have been in contact with me to raise the concern that registrars for marriages are not available on Saturdays and Sundays. I know that, traditionally, in Ireland weddings take place six days a week, although not necessarily on a Sunday. There has been a change in...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Civil Marriages (8 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I am just not satisfied with that answer as it still does not deal with the problem of individuals being available to solemnise a marriage on a Saturday. If the person is a member of the religious body that has clearance from the Registrar General, it is possible but what if he or she is not a member of that religious body and there is no registrar available on a Saturday? This matter must...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I wish to raise two issues this morning. One relates to St. Patrick's Day. This is always a big day from an Irish point of view, with many Ministers travelling abroad, including to the United States. I wish to raise the issue of having a more structured approach with the US House of Representatives and Senate. When I served in the European Parliament, I had the privilege of serving on a...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: There are 31 people registered-----

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: They are those in the Humanist Association of Ireland and Aisling Arran Teoranta. We should not leave this as it is because the situation around the issue is changing. We have had marriage equality legislation and there have been changes in a number of other areas. The process for religious marriage ceremonies remains the same, however, and we need to examine it. The Minister of State...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospitals Building Programme (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to be here today. I very much appreciate it. My Commencement matter relates to the proposal in the national development plan, Project Ireland 2040, for a new hospital in Cork. The priority is not long fingering it and leaving it as just a proposal. I want action to be taken. The population of Cork has increased from 410,000 to 542,000 in...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Hospitals Building Programme (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: Unfortunately, the reply that was furnished to the Minister of State by the Department and the HSE does not actually deal with the question. The question is quite specific. I just asked what process has been put in place to identify the site. It is important that we establish a group or that a process is clearly identified to identify this site and move forward with this project. I...

Seanad: Project Ireland 2040: Statements (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for being here for this debate because it is very important. He outlined clearly the success he had in the projects that had been identified as important for Limerick and rightly so. Likewise, I make no apologies for fighting for the projects I think are important for my own area in Cork. There is much good news for Cork. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Chronic Disease Management: Discussion (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their comprehensive presentation and for the work they do. The witnesses have clearly set out the need for change and for further education on a lot of issues and they also referred to trying to get change in the HSE service. A big complaint I hear from practitioners is that when they can clearly see the need to approach a problem in a different way and they try to...