Colm Burke

I accept what the Minister of State said; obviously, there is an issue regarding the negotiated price for the medication. Surely, we must look at the long-term challenges with an increasing older population. As the Minister of State outlined, those in the older age group are more prone to getting shingles. The number of people having to go into hospital will increase, as will the number who requir…

Back in October or November of last year there was a meeting between the HSE, Cork City Council and the Departments of housing and health with a view to opening a day centre in Cork. We have more than 500 people who are homeless. They are in shelters at night but during the day they have no place to go except out on the street. This also relates to the Garda and justice. We have identified a build…

94. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform if his Department has now received an up-to-date environmental impact study in respect of the Blackpool flood relief scheme; the timeframe for when the public consultation will occur; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16513/25]

This question is related to Questions Nos. 102 and 103. I wish the Minister of State well in his new role in the Department of public expenditure. My question relates to the Blackpool flood relief scheme, which was initiated in 2013. In the past 12 years, little or no progress has been made on the matter. Has the Department received the up-to-date environmental impact study in respect of the Black…

I thank the Minister for his reply but I am getting no answer to the question I raised. I asked when the Minister of State expected to have the environmental impact study back. When will we have a public consultation? When can we move on with this project? It is 12 years on and we have not made one single step forward on this project. I am frustrated. The fact is the OPW submitted the design to th…

Can we get a timeframe for when the study will come from the OPW to the Department of public expenditure? When will we have a consultation? Have we a guideline? Will it be in three, six or 12 months' time? I fully understand the Department has to be extremely careful because it was a judicial review. However, we now have a situation where an area on the northside of the city is totally at a stands…

I raise the number of dental training places that are available in the universities in Ireland. It has not increased in the past 25 years, yet the population has increased by 1.5 million. The number of dentists taking part in the dental treatment services scheme has reduced from 1,492 to 810, which means 682 fewer dentists are available under the scheme. There is an urgent need to increase the num…

10. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the efforts being made by his Department to prioritise improvements in farmer mental health and well-being supports, in particular supports for rural mental health programmes, recognising the unique challenges faced by those in the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13798/25]

What efforts are being made by the Minister's Department to prioritise improvements in farmers' mental health and well-being supports, in particular supports for rural mental health programmes, recognising the unique challenges faced by those in the sector, and will the Minister make a statement on the matter?

A recent study - and there have been a number of them - by agri-mental health group Farming Minds in UCD found that 23.4% of farmers are considered at risk of suicide, 50% of farmers are currently experiencing moderate to extremely severe depression and almost 40% of farmers are experiencing moderate to extremely severe anxiety and stress. That report and other reports have been produced over rece…

It is important to highlight this issue, as I said, with the farming organisations but also to work with other groups in rural areas. There was a time when if you were, say, a dairy farmer, you went to the creamery and you met others at IFA meetings, Macra meetings or ICMSA meetings. However, a lot of meetings now are held on Zoom so there is not the same social contact. That is why it is importan…

I support the motion of confidence in the Ceann Comhairle. She retains my full confidence. As the democratically elected Chair of this House, she deserves the respect of all its Members. She was democratically elected. As a former colleague of hers on the Committee of Public Accounts, I know of her work rate and her commitment to fairness, due procedure and full accountability. I know she will imp…

11. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the timeframe for when the next sports capital grant applications will open; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10207/25]

I have a query about the timescale. It is about sports organisations' planning. In the Minister of State's reply, he said the next round will start in 2026. When in 2026 will it be? Is it going to be in the first or second quarter? This is about organisations preparing plans and making sure they have gone through the whole planning process. It is about target dates. The Minister of State also ra…

Regarding disadvantaged areas, while there are some in my constituency of Cork North-Central on the northside of the city, in fairness to all of the sporting organisations and the local authorities, they have been very proactive about grants. However, I did come across difficulties in Dublin. For instance, one of projects in which I was involved was the opening of Merchant's Quay supervised inject…

<b>:</b> There are 26,700 residents in private nursing homes and 5,600 residents in public nursing homes. The enhanced community care programme and the chronic disease management programme were agreements between GPs, the HSE and the Department, but GPs are not paid under these programmes for dealing with residents in public and private nursing homes. As a result, private nursing homes face a sign…

I thank the Minister and wish her well in her role in the Department of Health. It is appropriate that I thank the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, who I served for a brief period of time in the Department. I liked working with him. He achieved a great deal in the time in which he was in the Department. Tonight, it is important to welcome the roll-out of the health app. It is hugely important.…

On 29 November 2022, the Cabinet decided that Sarsfieldscourt would be the site of the new elective hospital in County Cork. More than two years have passed and we have still not seen the design plan for hospital. In addition, the planning application has not been submitted. The former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, was very much in favour of the development of elective hospitals, not just in Cork bu…

In the Cork-Kerry region, 2,619 people are waiting for the audiology service appointments and it takes 117 weeks from referral by a GP or health specialist until someone gets an appointment. I am very concerned that there are only 14.2 audiologists working in the region. It is no longer adequate. There is also a strong link between hearing loss and the early onset of dementia. What action will be…

I am raising this issue because of a report published in the last week, namely, the National Paediatric Mortality Register Annual Report 2025. It sets out the concerns about the lack of a centralised, universalised reporting system for reporting and analysing child deaths. This is hindering progress in addressing the root causes. What steps is the Minister of State taking to address this issue? Th…

I thank the Minister of State for her reply. The recommendations are quite clear. Recommendation 1 is "The National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA) must urgently progress the implementation of an electronic data collection system in order to allow for the timely submission of CYP mortality data to the NPMR". It is a clear recommendation. Recommendation 2 is that there would be a "detailed analysis…

I thank the Minister of State.

Cork North-Central is where more than €35 billion is coming from Apple into the Exchequer. I raise the issue of the north ring road, which is north of the city. In the past two years, not one brown cent has been made available for the development of the strategic plan for the northside of Cork city. Funding has been provided for the distributor road, which is also important. The Tánaiste mentioned…