Results 9,461-9,480 of 11,246 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I welcome the announcement this morning by Apple that it proposes to create up to 1,000 new jobs at its plant in Hollyhill, Cork, which is in my local authority area of the north west ward. It is a welcome development that will bring the total number of jobs there to over 5,000. I also thank Apple for its contribution to the area, Cork city and this country over the last 30 years. Many...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: It would be appropriate that the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation come before the House to discuss his plans for the next two to five years in the context of job creation and the retention of young people in this country. That would be an important debate. Negative issues are constantly spoken about in this House. Let us talk about the positive issues, including the creation of...

Seanad: Order of Business (10 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I refer to the elections in Myanmar, formerly Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi has made tremendous progress in securing a move towards a democratic system. In the first speech I made to the European Parliament in 2008 I called for her release. She was under house arrest for over 21 years and was eventually released in 2010. It shows that taking the road of peaceful means and the democratic system...

Seanad: Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Bill 2013: Second Stage (10 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward this comprehensive Bill and I also thank her officials and the officials in the Office of the Attorney General for the work that has been done on the legislation. The enduring power of attorney is an issue covered in the Bill. In highlighting this issue, which was included in legislation introduced in 1996, I am not sure the public is aware...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Eligibility (5 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and thank her for the work she has done on the fair deal scheme. Last year, in particular, when there was a substantial backlog associated with the discharging of people from hospitals, she and the Minister got involved and came up with additional funding. As a result, the waiting time for admittance to nursing homes has been reduced...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Nursing Homes Support Scheme Eligibility (5 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for her very comprehensive reply. I am delighted that a review is going ahead. As the Minister of State said, the issue is that the three-year cap applies in the case of sudden illness but not in the case of a gradual illness such as Parkinson's disease. I welcome the Minister of State's response and I am delighted that progress is being made. I hope to keep...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: General Scheme of Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the delegates for their presentations and the work they put into them. These presentations were not prepared in a short period. I thank each one of them for their efforts in setting out in writing the issues they see in the draft legislation. I wish to touch on one or two issues. The first is the issue of 14 days being an inadequate time in which to bring an appeal. What do the...

Seanad: Order of Business (4 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I agree with Senator Darragh O'Brien on accident and emergency departments, but we need to examine how we deal with them. I spoke to a junior doctor who is now based in Perth where the system for dealing with accidents and emergencies appears to be totally different. Another person I spoke to recently was admitted to hospital through an accident and emergency department. The person was in...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (4 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister for coming to the House. As he is aware, I have been involved in the Bill and the previous Minister, Deputy James Reilly, introduced a Private Members' Bill on this matter back in 2009 or 2010. At the time a commitment was given to him by the Department that this would be brought forward. The Bill concerns the necessity for professional indemnity insurance. In 2012 I...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Nov 2015)

Colm Burke: I want to return to what Senator Craughwell has said about the Web Summit. It is important that we make every effort to bring back the Web Summit, which will not be hosted in Ireland next year. However, we have to put the matter in context. On the radio this morning, severe and unjustified criticism was levelled at IDA Ireland. All the State agencies have worked very hard to bring new...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: General Scheme of Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill 2015: Discussion (Resumed) (22 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank Dr. Shannon for his comprehensive presentation. I wish to touch on one issue, namely, illegal adoptions and whether we have any real idea of the numbers involved. I understand the number of legal adoptions between 1953 and 2014 is greater than 44,000. Unfortunately, I was obliged to deal with one such illegal adoption case a number of years ago, in respect of which I spent four...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Disabled Drivers Grant Eligibility (21 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State. I am raising this issue as a result of a family coming to me about their 52 year old daughter who has an intellectual disability. The family is the main carer for their daughter. Every morning, for the past 35 years, the family has been driving her to a Cope Foundation facility in Cork, and collecting her every evening. The family applied for the disabled...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Disabled Drivers Grant Eligibility (21 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I am not sure whether I agree with its contents fully. However, on the issue I have raised about intellectual disability, where there is huge discrimination, I referred to a case in which the parents are elderly but still are on the road each day to look after their daughter and were the State to provide full-time care, there would be a huge cost...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Disabled Drivers Grant Eligibility (21 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: United Nations Principles for Older Persons: Motion (21 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank my colleagues for bringing forward this Private Members' motion. We face a major challenge in this country over the next number of years to how we develop policy in this area. Just because someone reaches a certain age does not mean that there is suddenly a dependency. One lady who lives in my area is 99 years of age and still drives a...

Seanad: United Nations Principles for Older Persons: Motion (21 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: That is an important issue that needs to be looked at.I do not in any way criticise what has occurred, but in fairness, in recent years we have more debates and discussions on the matter and many positive things have been done. For example, we had the national positive ageing strategy, which was a plan for an ageing society from 2011 to 2016. The strategy is now up for review. Other plans...

Seanad: United Nations Principles for Older Persons: Motion (21 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: At 10.30 tomorrow morning.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health and Social Care Professionals Act Regulations: Minister for Health (20 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister and thank him for his presentation. I agree with Deputy Kelleher's point and while it does not relate directly to the regulation, and while it is always very important that regulations are properly scrutinised and implemented, an issue has been brought to our attention by the Irish Association of Physical Therapists. It is concerned that physical therapists do not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Leopardstown Park Hospital: Chairperson Designate (20 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank the witness for the work he has done in the past six and a half years. It has not been an period for anybody in the health care sector. As a person who has been involved in the elderly care area for the past ten years, I am very much aware of the particular difficulties the witness would have experienced. How many beds are currently occupied under the fail deal scheme?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Leopardstown Park Hospital: Chairperson Designate (20 Oct 2015)

Colm Burke: So that is over 170 beds that are occupied under fair deal.