Results 9,861-9,880 of 11,271 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I propose an amendment to the Order of Business that No. 12 be taken before No. 1. I raise a matter that was presented to us at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Health last Thursday. I refer to the HIQA report on the National Ambulance Service which is frightening. It clearly indicates that some in management in the ambulance service acknowledged that they did not have the skills...

Seanad: Order of Business (9 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: The Senator will have to do the Ring of Kerry.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Best Practice Access Guidelines: Irish Wheelchair Association (4 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: To refer back to targets with local authorities, I served on a local authority for 12 years and local authorities tend to say they will deal with an issue next year or the year after. It would be a very good idea if the witnesses engage with local authorities and set clear targets for areas, because unless the targets are set out in writing it can get pushed down the road. That is something...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Best Practice Access Guidelines: Irish Wheelchair Association (4 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the deputation for a comprehensive presentation. My first question relates to selling an idea and about engagement. One point may be helpful from our point of view. Do we have a figure for the total number of people who are wheelchair bound or who need to use wheelchairs? Another interesting figure is the number who are dependent on wheelchairs and living alone. These figures are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Deep Brain Tissue Treatment: Health Service Executive (4 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: In the context of cross-border health care, I wish to ask about undue delay. Is that being looked at currently? Are there consequences in terms of the implementation of the directive? How do we plan to deal with the issue?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Deep Brain Tissue Treatment: Health Service Executive (4 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank Dr. O'Connell for a very comprehensive presentation and for setting out all the issues and the way the HSE is approaching it. Dr. O'Connell gave the figures for 2012 up to 2014. There is a substantial increase. Could he clarify whether he sees a further increase over the next two to three years or whether he thinks it has levelled out in respect of the numbers who will be seeking...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (3 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I realise the Minister of State has had a long day and apologise, therefore, for detaining him so late in the evening. A large number of people in local authority housing wish to purchase their home, but there is no scheme in place to allow them to do so. In many cases, tenants have been living in the same property for a long time but there is no private housing available in the area....

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Tenant Purchase Scheme Administration (3 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply and am delighted the new scheme will be up and running shortly.

Seanad: Homelessness: Statements (3 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. It is important to acknowledge the work of many groups on the housing issue, in particular the Simon Community, local authorities, the Housing First service and Threshold, and that of the people who work for them on a voluntary basis. It is not an easy issue to resolve. I recall Cork County Council trying to open a wet shelter in the city when...

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (3 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the publication of this Bill. It is important to have a debate about freedom of speech. For a second while listening to Senator Daly, I wondered if I was involved in a debate in North Korea because he gave the impression that there is no free speech in this country. I remind him-----

Seanad: Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2014: Second Stage (3 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I remind Senator Daly that his party was in government in 2004 when my legal office identified a major defect in legislation involving people in nursing homes. We found that 80% of their pension was being deducted and no legislation gave power to the health boards to do that. The response of the Government in 2004 was to immediately rush legislation through the Dáil and Seanad in three...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome yesterday's report on the ambulance service by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, to the Joint Committee on Health and Children. I agree with Senator Darragh O'Brien that people who work in the ambulance service provide an excellent service and are extremely committed and dedicated to their jobs. In this regard, I would like to read into the record of this House...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Ambulance Service Review: Health Information and Quality Authority (2 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I refer to the issue I have highlighted. While I acknowledge it is a separate issue, it is the crunch issue whereby people are being promoted without interview. This is a huge issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Ambulance Service Review: Health Information and Quality Authority (2 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: Was it identified that people had been appointed without interview? It has been mentioned that people were moved rather than interviewed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Ambulance Service Review: Health Information and Quality Authority (2 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome Mr. Quinn and thank him for his presentation. We wish him every success in his new role. I am a little frightened by the report which states that many managers outlined that they had changed roles with the service in recent times. It said some of these staff reported that they did not have formal job descriptions which outlined the specifics of their roles and the aligned...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Ambulance Service Review: Health Information and Quality Authority (2 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I am dealing with the ambulance service because this is now a replica of that issue. We now appear to have people-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Ambulance Service Review: Health Information and Quality Authority (2 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: I accept that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Ambulance Service Review: Health Information and Quality Authority (2 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: Is Mr. Quinn saying that from his evidence, people have been slotted into positions who are not qualified to hold them? That is what the report seems to be indicating. If that is the position, I am saying that the people who put them in there should resign or be fired. It is outrageous that we are slotting people into positions who do not have the technical know-how. Someone has to be...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Ambulance Service Review: Health Information and Quality Authority (2 Dec 2014)

Colm Burke: It is off. There is another issue I want to identify. In the last week, it has come to my knowledge that staff who were working with the ambulance service have not been redeployed or retrained in the roles they previously had. Some of them are now sitting in offices without any responsibility of any description. I wonder if, in preparing this report, Mr. Quinn was aware of that. The...

Seanad: Flood Management: Statements (27 Nov 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State. I welcomed the report published in July on the lower Lee-Cork city flood relief scheme, which is long overdue. The report deals with the recent history of flooding in Cork city. In 1986 the Macroom, Ballincollig, Blarney and Cork city areas were badly hit. In November 2000 the same happened, as it did two years later. In October 2004 there was tidal...