Results 11,241-11,260 of 11,292 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Sep 2011)

Colm Burke: The issue I want to raise is the fact that the junior doctors who came here in August gave a month's notice from the jobs they had held. They are professionals who resigned. As of today's date, they have not been given a date to sit the exams to enable them to practise here. Some of them have been here for more than ten weeks and they cannot sit the exams. They have been told they may not...

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Sep 2011)

Colm Burke: This a Medical Council issue. I want the Minister, the Medical Council and the HSE to deal with it immediately. It should not be left until October for those people to sit the exams. They are professional people who gave up good jobs. They came to this country to get us out of a bind in terms of a shortage of junior doctors that we inherited from the previous Government.

Seanad: Order of Business. (21 Sep 2011)

Colm Burke: The Minister must deal with the issue with the Medical Council and the HSE.

Seanad: Order of Business (20 Sep 2011)

Colm Burke: The Government has established the JobBridge programme, which is a welcome development. Recently, I was contacted by someone who is running a community hospital. They are prepared to provide training to people who want to work as carers in the community. They have set up a training scheme within the community hospital, which is not taking jobs away from anyone. They have more than...

Seanad: Family Home Bill 2011: Second Stage (27 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I thank Senator Marc MacSharry and his colleagues for introducing these proposals. However, I do not support the draft Bill because, like the Minister of State, I am of the view that it is unconstitutional. The judgment delivered by Ms Justice Dunne on 25 July casts doubt on the legality of any repossessions in respect of a certain cohort of distressed mortgage holders. It is interesting...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (27 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister for introducing this legislation, which is welcome and is extremely important. Like Senator O'Donovan, my experience in the District Court has been of a limited nature. I was surprised by the figures given for the use of community service orders. It is also welcome because it deals with the imposition of fines. The Act of 2010 helped in this regard. Previously,...

Seanad: Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages (27 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister for bringing forward the Bill. Section 32 of the Bill deals with the Coroners Act. Coroners are not required to hold inquests within a specific period of time. I raised this matter with the Minister previously, along with my colleague, Senator Tom Sheahan, who was also aware of an unreasonable period of time being allowed to elapse before an inquest was held. I know...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I wish to follow up on the comments of Senator John Crown on the figures for County Roscommon. For the past few weeks I have been in discussions with a number of people involved in health care. The figures for the procedures they have carried out do not correspond with the figures given. One person has advised me they were credited with carrying out operations they had not done. These are...

Seanad: Order of Business (27 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I am not calling for a debate but asking for the matter to be dealt with in order that proper records will be sent from hospitals to the central unit which records the numbers of procedures carried out. The information crediting consultants with operations is inaccurate, which raises serious questions about who is recording the figures. Records are kept very well in theatres but in-between...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (26 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for bringing forward this legislation. Many of the issues I wanted to raise have been mentioned but I will refer to one or two issues, one of which concerns my experience of dealing with young people. Many years ago I had the privilege of being invited onto a committee on the north side of Cork city which was deciding what to do about the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (26 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: Tomorrow.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011: Second Stage (26 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: At 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I join my colleagues in extending sympathy to the people of Norway on their recent tragedy. It highlights the issues of the arms trade and access to arms. The seriousness of these issues were never brought home to me more than three years ago when I visited the area of Chad bordering Sudan, where over 10,000 people under 18 carried machine guns. Over a period of 18 months, the aid...

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: My question concerns protection for aid agencies working in the sites for internally displaced persons and refugee camps. The Irish Army provided protection when sent to Chad as part of an EU peacekeeping force. In Somalia, many aid agencies cannot provide food because they do not have protection.

Seanad: Order of Business. (26 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: We should ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to take the action necessary to ensure the United Nations provides the necessary protection to the organisations trying to provide food aid. I ask that this matter be taken up with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and that he, in turn, take it up with the United Nations at a very early date.

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: Last week a judge of the Supreme Court made strongly critical comments about modern tribunals, describing their powers are "truly awesome", their expense "enormous", the cost of participating in them "grotesque" and the duration of some "nothing else than appalling". The comments were made in the context of an application by the Director of Corporate Enforcement to take certain actions in...

Seanad: A Vision for Change: Statements (14 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I am pleased that we have this opportunity to discuss this report and the wider issue of mental health services provision here. It is said that a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members. This must be the guiding principle of our society and Government. This must be held most true when it comes to how we care for people...

Seanad: Unfinished Housing Developments: Statements (13 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I thank him for the efforts he is making to deal with this difficult problem. A number of months ago, I was asked to speak at the historical society of UCC. The society was having a debate on comparisons between the recession of the 1980s and the current recession. I spoke from my perspective as someone who comes from a legal practice. I...

Seanad: Finance (No. 3) Bill 2011 (Certified Money Bill): Second Stage (13 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I welcome this Bill. I welcome the Minister and his officials to the House. I thank them for bringing this Bill forward. When the law is changed, it is important that the equivalent change in the taxation area is also made. I have to take account of what Senator Zappone has said. The Minister should take it on board. I will give an example of how far we have come. In 1980, which was...

Seanad: Order of Business (13 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I agree with my colleagues on the visit yesterday by the President of the European Parliament. It was interesting. My colleague raised the issue of reform. The President referred to the number of submissions received on draft legislation being passed at European level. I understand that 337 submissions were made by different states, none of which were made by either House in this...