Results 21-40 of 10,601 for speaker:Colm Burke

Seanad: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (7 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State and thank her for bringing forward the Bill at such an early opportunity. One often believes that the position with regard to regulation is adequate and that there is already legislation in place to allow Ministers to regulate in respect of particular matters. There was a case a number of years ago where regulation was in place but where there was a lack of...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Second Stage (8 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I welcome the Minister of State. I also welcome the Bill, as it addresses the issue of medical staffing, a critical issue in the health service. I regret the fact, however, that the Bill is being expedited through the House. This is not the optimum state of affairs. However, considering the time issue involved it is, unfortunately, necessary. Despite this, I hope we will scrutinise the...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I have a question on section 50A(1)(b), as inserted by section 8 of this Bill, which refers to "the relevant criteria specified in rules made under section 11 relating to the registration of medical practitioners in the Supervised Division". I presume that is section 11 of the 2007 Act. I presume the Medical Council sets the rules but is it answerable to the Minister? In 2009, Dr. Mick...

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: With regard to section 9, I am concerned that it appears-----

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: It ties in with the section 8.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: If someone drops out of a designated post, my understanding is that section 9 will prevent him or her from returning. Sections 52(4) and 52(5) of the Act specifically provide for allowing a person to return. Perhaps I am interpreting this incorrectly but I seek clarification.

Seanad: Medical Practitioners (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (8 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I am satisfied with the Minister of State's answer to the question I asked previously. I wanted to know whether a person could stay in a specialist area but transfer to a different hospital if he or she was no longer able to continue working in the first hospital. I am still concerned about the impact of section 9 on the ability of a person who has sat an exam for a particular specialist...

Seanad: Order of Business (12 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I wish to raise the matter of a report on the use of legal highs published by the EU yesterday. Those in the 15 to 24 age group in our population are highest users of legal highs, with 16% of that age group having admitted in surveys to using them. This issue was dealt with last year, but it has not gone way. This problem will remain with us. Once one drug is made illegal, a new...

Seanad: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister for returning so quickly to the House to deal with this Bill. The issue I wish to raise is the photographs we have seen. One of them included the number of the quit line. Research has shown that where countries include the quit line number on every packet of cigarettes, the number of calls to the quit line number increased dramatically in the first 12 months...

Seanad: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: This Bill is welcome. We have a problem in this country. The current smoking rate is approximately 29%. Although we were not talking about smoking this morning, I mentioned an EU study that was published yesterday which reported that 16% of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 have used substances that are available on the market to give them illegal highs and that 32% of young...

Seanad: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, for coming to the House so quickly. I also thank her officials in the Department of Health and the officials in the Office of the Attorney General. When advice of this nature is provided, it is extremely important that it be acted on in an expeditious manner. That has certainly happened in this case. I compliment everyone involved. I wish...

Seanad: Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Bill 2011: Committee and Remaining Stages (12 Jul 2011)

Colm Burke: At 10.30 a.m. tomorrow.

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...

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: 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: 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: 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: 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.