Results 8,701-8,720 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

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...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board: Discussion (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their overview and the work that has been done in this area. An area that has not been brought up previously is people who provide scanning services. There does not appear to be any regulation of this. I have come across a number of cases recently, in particular outside of Dublin, in which scanning services were provided. I heard of one case recently in which a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board: Discussion (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: No. People are providing pregnancy scans and so on, giving out information and offering scanning services, especially outside of Dublin, which are not attached to any medical practice. It is happening.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board: Discussion (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I am not sure. They may have qualified in other jurisdictions, not necessarily in Ireland or England, but they are now offering scanning services. There is a question mark that, since they are not attached to a hospital or any kind of medical facility, if negative news is being given to patients, the support is not there for them. Their view is that they are only providing a service and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board: Discussion (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I do not believe it is a licensing issue where people are offering scanning services. Is there any supervisory structure in place in this area?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board: Discussion (7 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: My concern is that it is not regulated such that anyone from eastern Europe can come here and offer services. I am not questioning the qualifications of anyone from eastern Europe but there are services operating here that have no connection to any of our public or private hospitals.

Seanad: Order of Business (6 Mar 2018)

Colm Burke: I reiterate what my colleagues have said and thank all the people who worked in the health care sector over the last week, including people who had to stay in hospitals because they were not able to travel and, more importantly, because they wanted to provide care to patients in hospitals. There were many people working in psychiatric services, in general hospitals and in all hospitals...

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Feb 2018)

Colm Burke: Very briefly, I join colleagues in wishing Senator Ó Clochartaigh well. I think everyone of us is here with the sole ambition to effect change to make people's lives better and deliver better services. Every time Senator Ó Clochartaigh spoke it was about trying to improve a situation and to effect that change. Some of us will leave this House without being able to have the same...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2018)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their contributions and for the work they are doing in this complex area. Deputy Kelleher has put many of the questions I wanted to ask, but I would like to address the issue of people travelling abroad. How many people travel abroad for IVF treatment, surrogacy and egg donation? Is there any way to establish the figures? One of the complaints that is made...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2018)

Colm Burke: Chairman, in respect of the numbers travelling abroad, do the witnesses have any idea of the number who travel abroad?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2018)

Colm Burke: Could I just ask Dr. Wingfield, in relation to the legislation and the ongoing communication with the Department of Health, if there is a structure in place in that regard?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Assisted Human Reproduction Bill 2017: Discussion (Resumed) (28 Feb 2018)

Colm Burke: Has a recent request been sent in for a meeting?