Results 9,001-9,020 of 11,246 for speaker:Colm Burke

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund: Chairperson Designate (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: We might end up not having to buy facilities or operating time in private hospitals if we had beds freed up in public hospitals. It is therefore a matter that should be Mr. Horan's concern since the faster we can get people out of the hospital system and into step-down care, the better and more efficient it becomes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to Medical Scanning Services (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I am sorry, but as I have to be in the Seanad Chamber at 4.30 p.m., I am conscious of time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to Medical Scanning Services (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I have to speak in the Seanad Chamber at 4.30 p.m. I thank Professor Daly for his presentation. I asked the committee to invite him because I had heard a number of complaints about people having scans on a Friday evening in services in which there was no medical backup to give advice. Advice has been given on a Friday evening without a medical person being present. That has occurred....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to Medical Scanning Services (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I was referring to standalone facilities without medical backup. The concern arises in that respect.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to Medical Scanning Services (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I would like to thank Professor Daly for giving us a very comprehensive presentation and for the work he and his colleagues are doing in the maternity services.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Issues relating to Medical Scanning Services (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: Could we put the proposal to write to the Department and the issue of regulation of people providing scanning services on the agenda for the next meeting?

Seanad: Order of Business (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: Today the representative group, Nursing Homes Ireland, NHI, is in Buswells Hotel meeting Oireachtas Members. I encourage Members to meet the NHI if at all possible. The group has raised a number of concerns, in particular the change in the mechanism for the calculation of commercial rates. I spoke to one nursing home provider who told me the home's commercial rates have increased from...

Seanad: Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill 2017: Second Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, to the House and thank her for dealing with this matter. I also thank her for the work she has already done in this area since she became Minister of State and even when she was a Deputy. I pay tribute to both Senators Ruane and Senator Ó Ríordáin for the very passionate speeches they gave. They believe passionately in...

Seanad: Order of Business (30 May 2017)

Colm Burke: Today's CSO figures show a continuing increase in the number of people in employment. The number in full-time employment has increased in real terms by 84,000 in the past 12 months. A wide range of people have returned to employment with increases in 11 of the 14 sectors. In the construction industry, there are 11,000 more people in employment. In the IT sector, there has been an increase...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the delegates for their comprehensive presentations which I very much appreciate. I return to the budget of €1.68 billion for disability services. Is that money coming from the health budget or from a number of Departments? There is a health budget of approximately €14 billion. I am not sure whether the sum of €1.68 billion is part of that budget or the social...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: Does Ms O'Connor have a breakdown of the social welfare budget for services for people with disabilities?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: It might be useful to know.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I have a question about disability officers in local authorities.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: On the disability officers there was a comparison with North Korea. It is fine to sign a declaration that it will be implemented. I would be careful with the comparison to North Korea's implementation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (Resumed) (25 May 2017)

Colm Burke: If I could clarify something, there are very good people working extremely hard within both local authorities and the HSE to try to ensure that the best quality service is available. With regard to adaptation work on houses, I understand from the Department that there is adequate funding available to local authorities now. If the organisations encounter a situation where a local authority...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I support my colleague, Deputy Ivana Bacik, on the issue of white collar crime. It shows that when the events occurred, we did not have the necessary capacity to deal with them. We now need to ensure such events will not occur again and that we will have people adequately trained in how to prepare such an investigation and how to present the findings to the courts in order that they can be...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Respite Care Services Availability (23 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I have raised the issue of respite care with him previously, particularly in so far as it relates to Cork. Since the last time I did so, I have been contacted by a number of parents across the country who are having difficulties as a result of what has occurred in the past two or three years in premises where respite care is available...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Respite Care Services Availability (23 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State. In fairness, he has dealt with the issues I have raised but there are one or two fundamental issues that we need to identify, such as the demographic profile of parents who are caring for children. It might not be a bad idea to seriously consider asking an educational institution, such as a university, to conduct research in this area and collate all of the...

Seanad: National Rehabilitation Hospital: Statements (23 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and I thank my colleagues, Senators Boyhan and Hopkins, for raising the matter on a number of occasions over the last number of months. I am extremely concerned that we have people occupying beds in other hospitals nationally who are waiting to get in for rehabilitation. Their families are putting us all under pressure, rightly, because...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Engagement with Mr. Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety (23 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Commissioner for his presentation. I know that it is a great challenge to deal with health care issues across the European Union because there are various traditions and ways of dealing with issues. I wish to talk about a cross-border health care issue. I was a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009. I headed up the European People's Party group on the Committee...