Results 9,021-9,040 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

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...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their presentations and all the work of their various organisations in giving support to people with disabilities. In his presentation, Mr. Brian O'Donnell referred to the education system. One of the issues I have come across over the past few months is the difference between the primary and secondary education systems. While there are a lot of supports at...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Discussion (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: We did have a vote there. I apologise for having to leave and I apologise to the speakers for not being here for the reply.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: In June last year the Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare was set up. Our colleagues in the other House made sure we were barred from sitting on the committee but I will raise the issue of infrastructural development relating to hospitals. Every week in this House people talk about the need for infrastructural development for our education system and our roads but we need to talk...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2014: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: May I speak briefly on that last amendment?

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2014: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: The amendment is on an extremely important issue. In 2009, Senator Reilly introduced a Private Members' Bill. The then Minister for Health, Mary Harney, at that time in late 2009 or early 2010, undertook to take action on this matter. I subsequently raised the issue in 2012 when I published another Private Members' Bill along similar lines to this Bill. The big concern was about doctors...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2014: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for bringing this Bill through its final Stages. As I said earlier, this matter first came to light in 2008 and 2009 in respect of cosmetic surgery. There was a concern that procedures were being carried out and the medical services here had to pick up the pieces.There were people performing procedures who did not have adequate insurance. Senator James Reilly,...

Seanad: Childhood Obesity: Statements (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for coming forward on this matter. It is a major challenge in this State. The former Senator Eamonn Coghlan, who has a lot of experience around physical activity, always raised the issue of physical activity in schools. We have much work to do in the area of physical activity for children. People have better energy levels, improved self-esteem and mood when...

Seanad: Autism Spectrum Disorder Bill 2017: Second Stage (17 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House and very much appreciate him being here for this Bill. I thank Senator Reilly for bringing this legislation forward. It is very important. The one warning I would sound relates to the fact that Senator Reilly brought forward a Bill in 2009 when he was a Deputy relating to medical practitioners and the need for insurance. Less than an hour ago, we signed...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I wish to raise an issue that appeared on the front page of yesterday's edition of the Irish Examinerto the effect that there were 10,000 complaints of anti-social behaviour to local authorities nationwide over a two-year period.In that two-year time period only 12 evictions arose. That level of complaint seems to indicate that local authority officials are spending a huge amount of time...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Vaccination Programme: Discussion (11 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I thank all the witnesses for their presentations and for the work they have done over many years. Social media, which has been touched briefly during this debate, is a major influencer. When false information is given in the print media, it can be corrected reasonably quickly. There is a great deal of incorrect information on social media and it is difficult to correct it. We need to...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 May 2017)

Colm Burke: I support the Bill being introduced by Senator James Reilly. It is important we start planning in this area. There are simple issues we must resolve, such as the numbers of people getting support or being cared for by family. What is the age profile of parents? What planning must we do to ensure that when parents are no longer able to provide care, there can be someone to step in and take...