Results 10,161-10,180 of 12,035 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Order of Business (22 Jun 2016)

Colm Burke: I wish to raise the issue of obesity, on which matter there has been much discussion. Someone approached me recently with a concern about vending machines in hospitals. In one case, the machine was within a short distance of a children's unit. Available in it were all sorts of chocolates, sweets, etc. The message on obesity that we hope to send, in health care facilities in particular, is...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Jun 2016)

Colm Burke: Senator Leyden raised the important issue of increased insurance costs, but he did not refer to the profits of insurance companies. We got rid of the jury system for deciding on the level of damages a number of years ago because we thought such a move would lead to cheaper insurance. We then set up the Personal Injuries Assessment Board because we thought it would result in cuts in legal...

Seanad: Health: Statements (21 Jun 2016)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House. I am delighted that he is here with us dealing with the health programme, in particular the need for a ten-year development plan for health. It is extremely important. One of the things that concerns me regarding the whole health care area is why every issue that comes up in the media seems to be very negative in its content, whereas there are a lot of...

Seanad: Health: Statements (21 Jun 2016)

Colm Burke: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Jun 2016)

Colm Burke: As Senators know, this is carers' week. A very important contribution to care is the assistance provided by the private nursing sector. Nursing Homes Ireland made a presentation yesterday. Unproductive meetings are one of the issues that the organisation has raised with me, which I am sure it has raised with other Oireachtas Members. When its members meet the Department of Health to...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2016)

Colm Burke: I congratulate the Cathaoirleach, both as a colleague from the legal profession and as a person from Cork, and wish him every success in his new role as Cathaoirleach. I compliment him also on his role as Leas-Chathaoirleach in the last Seanad. He was always fair to everybody in every debate. I congratulate also another colleague from Cork, Senator Jerry Buttimer, and wish him well in his...

Seanad: Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and wish him every success in his new role in the Department of Justice and Equality. I think it is his first occasion in here as Minister of State. I welcome the motions, which have my full support. It is important that we give the necessary support to the gardaí, who are working at the coal face. History has shown that unless that...

Seanad: Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (15 Jun 2016)

Colm Burke: I welcome this debate. It is important that we look at where we are in respect of housing. Yes, we have problems and there are many measures that can be taken immediately to resolve some of them. I will give the Minister a simple example that relates to downsizing. Quite a number of my constituents who occupy three or four-bedroom houses have told me that they have been contacting their...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2016)

Colm Burke: From one Burke to another, I thank the Cathaoirleach for the way in which he has managed the affairs of the House in the past five years. I thank the group leaders, in particular ours, who is the Leader of the House, for the manner in which they worked together to try to effect change. I pay tribute to the staff for their dedication and commitment in the past five years to assisting Members...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Feb 2016)

Colm Burke: I pay tribute to those Senators who are retiring. None of us has any guarantee that we will return, but I thank those who will definitely not be back for their contribution over the past five years or even longer, in particular Jim Walsh and Feargal Quinn. The latter is self-employed and has his own business. There is a lack of people from the business community in the Oireachtas. When...

Seanad: Order of Business (2 Feb 2016)

Colm Burke: One of the important things from the last five years, which was referred to by Senator Mullins already, was the growth in the number of people at work. It was one of the challenges faced by this Cabinet and the Government. It is a huge achievement to now have unemployment rates down to 8.6% and a huge growth in the number of people at work. It will not be too long before we have over 2...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Drugs Payment Scheme (28 Jan 2016)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State. Sativex is a new add-on treatment option indicated for multiple sclerosis, MS, patients with moderate to severe resistant spasticity symptoms, that is muscle rigidity spasms. Sativex contains the active substances THC and CVD, extracted from herbal cannabis cloned plants at a 1:1 ratio. Sativex was issued a licence by the Health Products Regulatory...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Drugs Payment Scheme (28 Jan 2016)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for his response and I fully accept his comments, as pricing is an issue that must be dealt with carefully. I am one of the people who highlighted how the cost of drugs increased from €570 million in 2000 to €2 billion in 2008 or 2009. Nevertheless, this medication may assist people with MS. The Minister of State knows that a person must live...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Housing Adaptation Grant (21 Jan 2016)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State. The issue I am raising relates to the allocation of funding to local authorities for house adaptation work. One local authority with which I am dealing was allocated something in the region of €1.9 million last year and that money was allocated to people who owned their own houses to do adaptation work on them. The same local authority received only...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Housing Adaptation Grant (21 Jan 2016)

Colm Burke: The answer is what I expected but the problem is that both Cork city and county councils have waiting lists of seven years duration in respect of adaptation works. The reply I have received is not going to do anything about that.For instance, in two cases the family has gone to the Ombudsman for Children. I have one family which has been waiting more than six years. The child has Canavan...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Housing Adaptation Grant (21 Jan 2016)

Colm Burke: I appreciate that and I thank the Minister of State.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Health Products Regulatory Authority: Chairman Designate (21 Jan 2016)

Colm Burke: I thank Ms Horan for the work she has done to date and wish her well in her new appointment. The big question I have to ask relates to research and development and her view on it in this country. There is a lack of co-ordination. The HSE, for example, does not have any person in charge of research. It is an organisation with 100,000 people that is providing medical care for the entire...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Medicinal Products Expenditure (14 Jan 2016)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I am raising the issue of Xolair - I hope I have pronounced it right - which is a drug for people with severe asthma. I am raising it as severe asthma is associated with a significant morbidity and health care resource. Some 10% of patients with asthma have severe asthma and these patients have a disproportionate economic burden. The main cost...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Medicinal Products Expenditure (14 Jan 2016)

Colm Burke: I did not get a copy of the written reply and am wondering if it could be made available to me. If I could go back to what I said, the research shows that there would be a 67% reduction in hospitalisations, a 68% reduction in bed days, a 61% reduction in exacerbations, a 62% reduction in courses of oral corticosteroids and a 90% reduction in workdays lost. Economically, it shows that the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Acute Hospital Services: Discussion (17 Dec 2015)

Colm Burke: I thank all the witnesses for the work they have done in this regard. It has not been an easy job because all sorts of power games go on all the time in the medical profession and within the entire hospital structure. Consequently, it is a great achievement to have effected the change that has come about. The position in Cork always intrigued me in that there were a number of different...