Results 10,901-10,920 of 11,255 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Third Level Grant Eligibility (17 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: My query relates to third level grants. I understand this is not the Minister's area, but I presume he has been provided with a response on it. In the past three weeks I have been in contact with two people who have dropped out of college. In one case the person came to Ireland with parents who had been recruited by the health service to work in an Irish hospital. The mother, a maternity...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Third Level Grant Eligibility (17 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I notice the last paragraph on the first page of the Minister's response does not correspond with the decision by the University of Limerick with regard to the grant applicant. In that case, the mother was an Irish citizen and the daughter was living and had studied in Ireland. However, the University of Limerick advised them that they did not and would not qualify for the grant. As a...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Third Level Grant Eligibility (17 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I appreciate that.

Seanad: Business of Seanad (17 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I have a note from the Leader's office that we would adjourn at 1.45 p.m and resume the debate at a time suitable to the Minister of State. Subject to his approval, I propose that amendment to the Order of Business.

Seanad: Alcohol Consumption: Statements (17 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I thank him for his comprehensive speech on the issue. The Minister of State provided many figures but one interesting comparison was that in 1960 Irish people were consuming 5 litres of alcohol per adult on average. I understand this has increased to 11.9 litres per adult per annum, a remarkable increase. This equates to 482 pints of lager,...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: Many Senators have spoken about the report compiled by Judge Michael Reilly on St. Patrick's Institution. It is time for us to examine the structure of prisons and what they provide. In 1996 I was involved in a project in Cork where 20 prisoners undertook an education programme. The approach resulted in 12 of them returning to full-time education after they had left prison. There has been...

Seanad: Order of Business (16 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I welcome the announcement made yesterday by the Minister for Health that the cost of drugs will be reduced in the next three years. The total cost savings will be in the order of ¤400 million. In 2000 the cost of medication and drugs was ¤573 million. By 2010 this figure had increased to ¤1.894 billion, an increase of over 230%. I raise an issue of concern. I submitted a freedom of...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: There was no national policy on the issue. We need to put in place a long-term national housing policy. I am speaking in this regard not only of local authority housing. As I stated earlier, the biggest cost in life is the cost of buying a house.

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: We should have a debate on where we want to be in five, ten or 20 years' time in terms of house ownership and how we are to move forward while ensuring we do not create a housing bubble of the type previously created. Some gardaí based in Dublin were given allowances on the basis of it being more expensive to reside there. While there is a need to review allowances, this must be done in a...

Seanad: Order of Business (11 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: The Minister for Health was in the House for more than five hours yesterday and engaged in a detailed debate on a number of issues. I am somewhat concerned that one of our national newspapers ran a story this morning stating that the Minister was running for cover. It gave the impression that the Minister was not available to anyone when he was here for five hours yesterday dealing with...

Seanad: Primary Care Centres: Motion (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: A site will be obtained.

Seanad: Primary Care Centres: Motion (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: The Government is being criticised for not doing enough in health care. More than 23,000 people are supported under the fair deal scheme which costs more than ¤1 billion. This is what the Minister has been doing and what he wants to do is to get better value for money. Since the Minister came into office he has ¤1.7 billion less in his budget to use yet the services being provided have...

Seanad: Primary Care Centres: Motion (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I move amendment No. 1: To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:"? affirms the Minister?s commitment to the aims of the primary care strategy, which has the key objective of developing services in the community, giving people direct access to integrated multidisciplinary teams of general practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and...

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I have a difficulty with the definition of "officer/employee". The amendment would not apply to someone who was contracted. I do not believe the amendment would be in compliance with EU regulations on the freedom of movement of workers. Locum consultants work in hospitals from time to time because no one else is available. Even if they work in Ireland for only a month and are not normally...

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: This is only Wednesday.

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: Speaking from a legal point of view, the section is correctly drafted and the amendment could cause legal problems. If a person refused to appear for the medical assessment, which he or she would be entitled to do, the Minister's hands could be tied. The Minister has made adequate provision, as the Bill states: "in the Minister?s opinion, the person has become incapable through ill-health."...

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I agree that this matter should be looked at again. Senator Power has put forward a strong case on the issue. This relates to an issue previously highlighted by me, namely, financial management of the HSE. When we looked at this area we found that many people involved in financial management of the HSE did not have the financial management qualifications required. I am not suggesting that...

Seanad: Business of Seanad (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, "That we adjourn Committee Stage of the Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012 at 4.30 p.m. as opposed to 5 p.m. as the Minister for Health is also taking Private Members' business."

Seanad: Health Service Executive (Governance) Bill 2012: Committee Stage (10 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: Unfortunately, I do not agree with the amendment. The discretion has to be left with the Minister in this matter because we are talking about a major change in abolishing the HSE and setting up the new structure. The discretion has to be left with the Minister in regard to putting it in place. I refer to the negativity about the health care sector. It is interesting to look at the key...

Seanad: Adjournment Matters: Health Service Staff (9 Oct 2012)

Colm Burke: I understand the Minister is also taking the matter I have raised, which relates to the recruitment of junior doctors. According to figures for 2011, there are 4,751 junior doctors employed in the Irish health system. Of these, 1,703 are senior house officers, 546 are interns, 1,568 are registrars and 934 are senior registrar specialists. We do not have a problem with senior registrar...