Results 10,021-10,040 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister for bringing forward this legislation and all the staff in the Department of Health and in the Office of the Attorney General for their work in this area. It is important that we have legislation because the likelihood is that there will be some challenge and we must ensure all the t's are crossed and the i's dotted. A great deal of work has gone into this Bill. I wish...

Seanad: Public Health (Standardised Packaging of Tobacco) Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (24 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: The legislation is most comprehensive. There must be some latitude for the Department and the Minister. No matter what Minister is in office, he or she can only introduce regulation that is in keeping with the terms of the legislation and the purpose of the legislation is to help to reduce the number of people smoking and also to remove all the marketing ploys that are available to the...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: I agree with Senator O’Donnell about the current problem we have with the medical profession. It was recently revealed at the Joint Committee on Health and Children that there are 253 vacant consultant posts. In one of the medical newspapers this weekend it was suggested that as many as 20% of all consultant posts might be vacant. That is a serious issue because we are losing senior...

Seanad: Order of Business (24 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: Currently, the State Claims Agency will cover anything after the first €1 million. There is a need to reduce the cap to €500,000 where cover is provided by the insurance companies. That should be examined immediately.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Availability (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: Could the Minister of State clarify whether the product could be supplied by a pharmacist without a prescription?

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Availability (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: Is the Minister of State saying that if someone has a medical card a prescription is not required?

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Availability (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: Is a prescription required in both cases?

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Availability (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: Is a person entitled to get the product over the counter if they have a medical card?

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Availability (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: Is it not covered by the medical card?

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Availability (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: But they must have a prescription.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Availability (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Availability (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: I am raising this issue because the figures relating to it were brought to my attention yesterday by the Union of Students in Ireland. As Fine Gael's spokesperson on health in the Seanad, I thought it would be appropriate to seek a response in respect of it from the relevant Department. The Union of Students in Ireland argues that the cost of the relevant medication can vary quite...

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Ms Catherine McGuinness (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: As a fellow legal practitioner, I welcome Ms McGuinness. My question returns to what Senator Leyden said about the abolition of the status of illegitimacy. I started that campaign in 1980 as head of a youth organisation. We held public meetings and collected signatures, and although we envisaged that it would take us ten years to change the law, it took seven years.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Ms Catherine McGuinness (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: As someone who organised public meetings around the country and collected more than 50,000 signatures on the street, I am well aware of it.

Seanad: Address to Seanad Éireann by Ms Catherine McGuinness (19 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: My question is about how slow we are to respond to the need for legislative change. As somebody who has been in the Houses of the Oireachtas and on the Bench, what would Ms McGuinness change to make the Oireachtas and the structures in place respond faster to the need for change? It was stated that it would take ten years to change a law in this particular area but it took seven. There are...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Legal Costs (18 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister for his response. I have got the figures on the stamp duty collected for 2012. In order to take up one's certificate of taxation, one must pay stamp duty. The total stamp duty paid in 2012 for 367 certificates was €805,000. As I said earlier, the number of certificates issued in 2011 reduced from 796, therefore, all we needed to do to pay for a third Taxing...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Legal Costs (18 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister. This is my second time in 18 months to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I stand over what I said previously and nothing has occurred since. This is about the appointment of a third Taxing Master. The current position is that if someone wins their High Court action their solicitor will want to get the costs taxed. If an agreement has been reached the matter...

Seanad: Order of Business (18 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: I concur with Senator Ó Murchú on the need to have the remains of Thomas Ceannt moved to a more fitting location. It is a matter that should be attended to within a short timeframe. On the cost of professional indemnity insurance for medical practitioners, the announcement in the past few days that in some cases the cost of this insurance has increased by 60% underlines the call I...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Drugs Payment Scheme Coverage (17 Jun 2014)

Colm Burke: This Adjournment matter concerns the drug Fampyra which is used by multiple sclerosis patients. It has been brought to my attention by a patient using the drug on a trial basis with positive effects that it is not covered by the GMS or drugs payment scheme. The patient's consultant, Dr. Brian Sweeney in Cork, has recommended that she continue using the drug, but it is costing her...