Results 10,641-10,660 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Health (Alteration of Criteria for Eligibility) Bill 2013: Second Stage (27 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also welcome the announcement by the Minister for Health that the proposal to destroy the Guthrie heel prick test cards is being scrapped. It is important we realise where we are coming from when looking at the current criteria. A single person is entitled to a medical card while earning up to a maximum of ¤700 per week or ¤36,400 per annum,...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I, too, join the tributes to Jimmy Walsh in respect of the contribution he has made during the past 40 years. In any democratic system, it is important to have a very good and fair media. Jimmy has made a major contribution to the democratic process in the way in which he has reported on matters in this House and in the Oireachtas generally for many years. I wish him every happiness in his...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I am sure the position is likewise in Senator Cullinane's constituency in Waterford. If Senator Norris wants to spend the weekend with me in the constituency of Cork North-Central, he is very welcome to do so. I do not want anyone to obtain the impression that Senators are disconnected from the public in any way. Some 80% of the people who visit my constituency office wish to raise issues...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: It is a fact that 165,000 additional medical cards were issued in the past year. This is clear evidence that the Government is not disconnected from what is happening among the general public. The insurance industry is complaining that the 5% increase in claims might incur higher insurance prices. This is an outrageous statement, given the fact that the overall level of costs, particularly...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Medicinal Products Prices (26 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State. I am a little concerned by the reply because of my own experience of dealing with the Medical Council. An Irish graduate who worked in an Irish hospital went to New Zealand for two years and when that person returned to Ireland and applied for registration, it took two months to get registered with the council. Even if applications are completed by 2 April, I...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors Recruitment (26 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State. I am a little concerned by the reply because of my own experience of dealing with the Medical Council. An Irish graduate who worked in an Irish hospital went to New Zealand for two years and when that person returned to Ireland and applied for registration, it took two months to get registered with the council. Even if applications are completed by 2 April, I...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Non-Consultant Hospital Doctors Recruitment (26 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: In 2011, more than 200 doctors were recruited in India and Pakistan and brought into Ireland. We rushed through legislation to create a new supervised division and the doctors were given two year contracts. Some of those contracts will expire in July and others in December, because some doctors did not begin working until January 2012. We may, therefore, have a shortage of junior doctors...

Seanad: Mobility Allowance: Statements (21 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank Senator Marie Moloney for raising this issue and the Leader for allowing a debate on it. It is an important issue that has to be dealt with. As many in receipt of the allowance are concerned, it is important that its future be clarified at an early date. There seems to be a tendency in some Departments to hope that when certain issues are raised, they will go away. I have referred...

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: They are being tackled.

Seanad: Order of Business (21 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: Today is the eighth World Down Syndrome day. We should send a message to the parents and families of people with Down's syndrome thanking them for the support they have given them over the past 20 years. Services have developed to support those who have Down's syndrome. We should also thank those with Down's syndrome for the joy they bring to their families, which they have done for many...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Schools Building Projects (20 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am disappointed the school has not been included in the five-year programme. As I said, we have full planning permission, so there is no further waiting time in that regard. In view of the fact we have full planning permission, it should be taken up as a project which is ready to roll. We have full planning permission, have a site which is...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Schools Building Projects (20 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter at short notice. This is the third or fourth night on which we are the last people in the House. I hope we have not set a precedent for the rest of the year. My Adjournment matters relates to Scoil Íosagáin, Farranree, County Cork which has over 400 primary school students but does not have a facility for any activity other than its...

Seanad: Restorative Justice Process: Motion (20 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank my colleague, Senator Conway, for bringing forward this motion. I fully support and second the motion. This issue is something we need to address in this country. That is something we have not done in real terms. There has been little if any major reform of the criminal justice system and little has been done to see if there is a...

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I join with my colleagues in congratulating fellow Corkman, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, for the work he has done on CAP reform. It also goes back to his own experience of working in the European Parliament and the mechanism that works in Europe about negotiation and compromise. In achieving that compromise, he has done a good deal for Ireland....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children: Tackling Childhood Poverty: Discussion (Resumed) (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: My apologies for not being here this morning. Unfortunately, I had a matter to raise on the Order of Business in the Seanad. I congratulate the witnesses for the work they are doing. I have heard much about the project which I must visit because it is the only way to see the work on the ground. I am in a constituency where the problem is not on the same scale as Ballymun. There has been...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Finance to the House so we can discuss all the issues and show that we are approaching it in a balanced and focused way, to ensure that by the time the Government finishes its term three years hence we will have the issue resolved.

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I also welcome the election of the new Pope and wish him well in his future years. As someone who has visited many developing countries, I have seen the incredible work the church is doing on the ground. A member of my family is working in a school with a pupil teacher ratio of one to 70 but still that school can provide a full meal to each pupil every day. There are four schools feeding...

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: There is plenty of positive news, on which we must focus. Let us stop being alarmist. Yes, we have to deal with the mortgage arrears crisis and----- (Interruptions).

Seanad: Order of Business (14 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: -----we are dealing with it in a balanced and focused way.

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Health Service Staffing (13 Mar 2013)

Colm Burke: I very much appreciate the reply. It is specifically the Minister, Deputy Reilly's, area. I am still at a loss as to how we can offer two-year contracts to persons outside this country and we cannot get information about what two-year contracts are in existence with Irish graduates. I am at a loss as to how we can offer two-year contracts in this way when we cannot do the same with junior...