Colm Burke
Cork North-Central · Fine Gael · Ireland
“That is not the Department's fault but the FAI was not asked any questions about bringing this land back into use for sporting activities in Glanmire. There are 30 acres lying idle. Not a sod has been turned and no planning application has been made. We are now getting mixed messages about what is actually going on.”
“The Department is still giving out money to the FAI and not calling it to account for getting the land from a Government agency, the local authority, and leaving it to sit idle, while clubs are now refusing to take in new members because they do not have capacity for them. It is time for the Department to step in.”
“It is ten years later and not a sod has been turned. I got then Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, to come to Glanmire in 2023 where we met 18 of the sports clubs. As a result of that meeting, the FAI started negotiations again with the county council.”
“The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport provides funding to the FAI on an annual basis. I understand it is more than €6 million. Can the Minister of State ascertain why 30 acres of land in Glanmire, Cork, which was leased to the FAI by Cork County Council in 2017, has remained idle?”
“I am absolutely astonished at that reply. The county council told councillors that it was leasing 12.5 acres to Riverstown FC rather than the full site. What the FAI is telling the Minister is totally different.”
“There has been a substantial delay in issuing Irish residency permit, IRP, cards. Quite a number of my constituents have been let go from employment because they did not get their cards within the 12-week period.”
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“It is not just about the public consultation but about getting information out on the advantage to the area of carrying out this work and making sure that properties and families are no longer in danger of a major flood occurring in the area. It can be seen in photographs from 2010 that there was up to 1.5 m of water in commercial premises and houses. It is a frightening experience for a business or family to have to deal with and therefore it is important that this scheme proceeds at the earliest possible date. Let us hold the public consultation, get on to the next step and engage with the contractors to get the scheme up and running. The scheme itself will take at least three years to complete. It will cause major disruption so it is important that it is planned very carefully and well by everyone involved.”
“I very much appreciate the work being done by officials in both the OPW and the Department of public expenditure, but there is frustration. As someone who comes from a legal background, I fully understand the dangers of rushing any decision and taking short cuts. Therefore, it is important in this case that the t's are crossed and the i's are dotted. I urge that the public consultation process proceeds at the earliest possible date because there are people who are very supportive of this project. I accept that people will challenge it again. It is their constitutional right to do so. We want to get on with the public consultation. The Department has the report. We must have the public consultation at the earliest possible date so that we can then proceed to the next stage when it has taken place.”
“Could the Minister of State outline the timescale for the Department to sign off on the scheme for Blackpool, the time it will take to carry out the public consultation, if that is required and the time required prior to inviting tenders so that these works can proceed? It is one of the longest awaited schemes by the OPW and the Department of public expenditure and I want to see progress on it in 2025.”
“One property owner who has run a business in the Blackpool area for more than 40 years wants to retire. He has put the property up for sale on a number of occasions. On two separate occasions a purchaser had signed contracts and then they run into difficulties getting finance to proceed with the purchase. As a result, the sale of the property collapsed. It appears that anyone who wants to buy a property in Blackpool must be a cash purchaser because the banks will not lend money to people who want to buy and improve the area. This is an old part of the city, which is becoming derelict as a result of the scheme not being put in place.”
“Unfortunately, when action was eventually taken on the report, the report was out of date and we were back to the drawing board with a need to do a new report. My understanding is that a new report has been obtained by the OPW, which it has forwarded to the Department of public expenditure. I do not want to have a repeat of what happened between 2022 and 2024 when a report was left on someone's desk with no action being taken. It is 15 years since the first major flooding and nothing has been done. Where are we with regard to pressing ahead with the flood relief programme for Blackpool? It is an old part of the city where there are huge problems with properties in that banks will not make finance available to purchasers because they are unable to get insurance to protect against flooding.”
“I am raising again the Blackpool flood relief scheme. We had three major floods there in 2010, 2012 and 2013. A decision was taken that a flood relief scheme would be put in place to make sure that the buildings in the area would not be adversely affected by a future increase in rainfall. Some 293 properties were previously adversely affected - 206 of them residential and 87 commercial. The announcement was made in 2018 that the scheme would proceed. It went from the OPW to the Department of public expenditure. A decision was taken that the scheme would go ahead in March 2021. There was a judicial review and four years later nothing has been completed. Between 2022 and 2024 an environmental study was produced by the OPW, which went to the Department of public expenditure.”
“The Minister outlined the challenges for families. The big problem is when a large number of stock animals has to be disposed of. Farmers then have the problem of trying to build back up that herd, especially in dairy farming. The time and cost of that are huge. The important issue is how to bring down the numbers affected and how to deal with this in real terms. We have had the TB testing scheme for a long number of years. It is unfortunate we are seeing a rise rather than a reduction. We must give priority to this issue over the next three to four years.”
“I thank the Minister. As I outlined and as the Minister said, between 2022 and 2024, there was a 36% increase in herds restricted. That is a huge increase. More than 6,000 farmers have lost 40,000 productive animals within a short period. The breakout of TB has a huge effect, especially in my area, a lot of which is urban but is also rural, where there are large dairy farms. When TB hits a dairy farm, the level of restriction that has to be put in place and the economic and emotional effect on a family are horrendous. Recently, I saw figures of farmers losing about €130 million in real terms because of the TB problem. As the Department is putting in more than €100 million, there is a huge loss to both the State and the people directly involved.”
“Will the Minister give an update on the Department's recent discussions with the TB forum to address the increase in the incidence of tuberculosis on farms, and will he make a statement on the matter?”
“It is extremely frightening to see a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted over a two-year period and the whole increase over the past five years. It is important that we do everything possible in the shortest time to reduce the numbers as well as the reasons they have increased so dramatically in such a short period. I know officials in the Department, the veterinary profession and farmers are working hard but everything possible must be done to deal with this issue in as short a time as possible. Over the next three to four years - it will take that time to reduce the numbers - everything must be thrown at it to ensure that the restrictions that need to be put in place to stop the spread of TB are put in place and fully complied with.”
“I accept what the Minister is saying. Both of us, coming from a legal background, will know we also have to be careful not only about the issue of constitutional rights but also about the fear regarding judicial review. Once an applicant enters a judicial review process, we have a difficulty. It is extremely important that we get the appeals process correct but it is also important that we have an efficient and effective appeals process that operates in a timely manner. I am really concerned about the numbers from 2023 and 2024. What numbers of appeals are pending since 2021, 2022 and 2023? Is there a breakdown of the figures for appeals still in the processing stage? That there are still appeals at stage means there are people here for more than four years who may not be legally entitled to be here.”
“I ask that every effort be made to improve the appeals process, appoint the additional staff to deal with the appeals and have timely delivery of decisions.”
“As the Minister outlined, there are 12,600 appeals on hand, but there was a substantial increase in the number of applicants in 2023, when the figure was 13,277. In 2024, the figure was 18,651. In the first three months of this year, there were 3,021. This means an average of 1,000 per month, which is 12,000 per year. We must consider how we can expedite the whole appeals process, deal with it more efficiently and get decisions made. This obviously means numbers because the sum of the applications for both 2023 and 2024 is 30,000 in real terms. This has to be dealt with really quickly because if the appeals are not dealt with in a timely manner, we will have further difficulties with accommodation and the deportation of those who are not here legally.”
“What action is the Department taking to reduce the application and appeals timeframe for international protection? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter, particularly in view of the fact that there has been a substantial increase in the number of applications in 2024, when there were 18,651 in total? What action is the Department taking to expedite the appeals process and to deal with applications overall?”
“These are two issues that the Department should be dealing with in conjunction with local authorities, namely assisting people to resolve title difficulties by using the CPO powers and going back to the developer to resolve the title issues and implementing the flood relief programme for Blackpool that was drawn up 12 years ago and that is still sitting on someone's desk, with nothing done about it.”
“One of the problems with derelict sites relates to title difficulties. Local authorities have a power to resolve this by using CPOs to assist developers. We do not seem to have been successful in getting local authorities to engage with people. If they did engage, I am of the view that many of the issues that obtain could be resolved. The other issue that needs to be resolved in the constituency and Deputy Gould and I represent relates to Blackpool. Development cannot take place because the flood relief programme for which we identified a need 12 years ago is still sitting on someone's desk. The people who want to develop cannot get insurance for flood relief and have difficulty in borrowing money for their projects as a result.”
“They can only sell to cash purchasers because no bank will lend to anyone who wants to buy property in this area because they cannot get flood relief insurance. I ask that this project be given priority and that it is not delayed further. It is 12 years on from the decision being taken, and no action has been taken.”
“Blackpool suffered flooding damage in 2010, 2012 and 2013. It was agreed that a flood relief programme would be put in place. Environmental impact studies were carried out and presented by the Office of Public Works, OPW, to the Department of public expenditure. There was a judicial review in 2021, but the environmental impact study was left on someone's desk for 12 months in the Department of public expenditure, and by the time it came to act on it, it was out of date, so it was back to the drawing board. A new report has been given to the OPW. My understanding is that the OPW has now sent it on to the Department of public expenditure. I do not want it to be sitting on someone's desk again for 12 months. In this area now people cannot sell property.”
“On Monday of this week, I was at a sports club which is undertaking a €200,000 development. While I was there, the club was doing a walk to raise the remaining money it needs. It has the sports grant but it needs to raise the additional money. It is a huge community effort. The Department is also doing a very good job. It is important to plan for major, large-scale urban development.”
“If the Minister of State is in Cork at any stage, he might come to my home parish of Inniscarra, which has 50 acres of sports grounds. The rugby club, the soccer club, the GAA club and the camogie club all have their own individual pitches, all of which were developed over the past 25 to 30 years. They are very well planned facilities and are all together in one area. We need to do that where there are large urban developments, rather than taking a piecemeal approach where this is done literally when many of the younger population have grown up and moved out of the area. It is an issue we need to address. I thank the Minister of State and the Department for the work they are doing and the way they have delivered, in particular in the last eight to ten years.”
“Throughout the country, the Department needs to focus on making sure that sports facilities are put in place and that it is not just housing.”
“Some 30 acres have been lying idle for the last ten years. I know the FAI had it and is leasing it back to the local soccer club, but that is a project that could come under the large-scale projects scheme. There were two very good projects in Cork in 2024, one at Castleview soccer club and the other where Cork County Council has been working with the athletic club in Mallow. There was €3 million in funding between those two projects, which are very significant. However, Cork only got €3 million out of the €173 million total for the entire country. Glanmire is an area where large-scale funding needs to be put in place to develop the facilities that are required for the very young population in that area. There are very good sports organisations there, working hard to cater for the increased population.”
“I thank the Minister and fully agree with him there was a huge amount of funding provided last year and over the past ten years. It is a huge initiative for sports organisations. I find that for every euro the sports organisations get in grants, they raise another €5 through voluntary effort. The facilities provided have been superb. An issue I want to focus on is large-scale housing development and forward planning. We do not appear to be doing enough work in that area. I ask that the Department would look at that. There is an area in my constituency, Glanmire, which has insufficient areas available for young people. In fact, the local GAA clubs are coming to the point where they will have to make a choice as to whether to admit everyone who wants to come in or put a limit on that because of access issues.”
“I thank the Minister of State very much for his reply. What we need to do, however, is to set out a clear plan to try to get the waiting time back to ten weeks. At the moment, there appears to be no plan. There is a plan to recruit people but targets do not appear to have been set. This is extremely important. It will probably take three years, and a clear plan should be set out now for the next three years in respect of how we can get the waiting time down to ten weeks.”
“I fully understand that people were recruited, but the whole process seems to take forever as regards dealing with the waiting time and dealing with the young people who need to get the test done and get a full driving licence.”
“I had two people on to me this week. One person got their appointment for 22 December in Wilton, in Cork. The other person's appointment is for 5 January 2026. That is an outrageous period of time that people have to wait for a test. I have parents on to me. One parent's son has to be dropped to work at 4 o'clock in the day and his other parent has to collect him after midnight every night because he is not able to drive to and from work. He has gone through training and has been driving for quite a while but still cannot get a date for a test. We are talking about over eight or nine months' waiting time. This has to be sorted far earlier.”
“In rural and urban areas, support groups provide an important service, particularly for those living alone or who are elderly and need support. It is important that, in reviewing those supports, there is work done across the Departments of Health and Social Protection to ensure that those groups get support to help those who need care and assistance, be they in urban or rural areas. It is something that needs to be co-ordinated to a far greater scale that it has before. Much work was done, particularly during Covid, and it is important that we continue and ensure that does not in slip in any way. We should not just take it that everyone is well able to look after himself or herself. That is not the case and is why we need to have those supports in place.”
“With the rising costs in various areas for the household, it is important that that review would continue annually. The one subject we need to look at, especially for people living in rural areas, is that of people living alone and the living alone allowance.”
“I mentioned the growing population and people living longer, but there is the additional problem of people living alone, especially in rural areas. As the Minister will know, having come from a rural constituency, transport costs for someone living alone in a rural area is a matter we have not focused enough on and we need to look at. The cost of getting from A to B, be it ten miles, 15 miles or 20 miles, in a rural area is more expensive. This is one matter we should be considering in terms of the living alone allowance. Where people look after themselves at home, there is less demand on the State compared to them being in nursing home care. Therefore, it is important that we ensure people can stay in their own homes for the longest possible time and we provide the additional supports they need.”
“I ask the Minister if an examination of improvements to key ancillary benefits, such as the fuel allowance, household benefits package and living alone allowance, to support vulnerable groups has occurred as part of the programme for Government. If not, when is this examination to occur? Will the Minister make a statement on the better?”
“My concern in regard to carer's allowance is the fact that the population is aging. Thankfully, people are living longer. The last census showed 832,000 people aged over 65 living in the country. Within the next four years, that figure will reach 1 million. The cost of nursing home care is at least €1,100 per person per week. Regarding long-term planning for the carer's allowance, it is important that we plan not just for today or tomorrow but for the next five to ten years. How proactive is the Department in looking at that plan and the number of people who will require care? The figure will increase dramatically over the next five to ten years.”
“Their eyesight is not the same as it was previously as a result of the damage caused by shingles. We should give careful consideration to this matter and take it step by step. If we cannot afford to provide the vaccine to everyone over 65, we must at least start with some age group so we can then work back to include people aged 65 and, long term, down to 50. I ask the Department to give serious consideration to this matter to see how it can be progressed. There is a cost to the State. It is a substantial cost every year with hospital admissions and people having to attend their GPs, most of whom have medical cards and will have to attend more often if they contract the infection. I ask that careful consideration be given to the proposal.”
“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 require treatment. The cost to the HSE and health service will increase. Even if we started by only providing it to people over 70, that would at least be a start on the programme. We are going nowhere at present. People require support. There are long-term effects that people do not recover from. I am aware of several people who suffered long-term eye damage from shingles and cannot regain their previous vision.”
“People will end up in hospital with complications and once a person ends up hospital there is a huge cost in real terms to the health service, whereas a vaccine could save a lot of the costs currently being incurred. It is about being proactive. The age group over 65 is increasing every year. The good point is people are living longer and the number aged over 65 has increased from over 600,000 ten or 12 years ago to more than 800,000 now. By 2030, we will have more than 1 million people over 65 years of age. People over 65 or even people over 50 are more prone to getting shingles. Now is the time for planning as regards the ageing population and putting in place a vaccine programme to deal with this issue.”
“This is one area where a lot of work and moneys could be saved if there was a comprehensive vaccination programme, especially for people over 65. There is a recommendation there would be five vaccines for older people available. We currently have three. It was recommended that a vaccine be introduced for this medical condition, particularly for people over 65. I believe 13 countries around Europe have a vaccine in place. It varies from country to country but it shows there is a real benefit not only from a health point of view but from a financial one. A study carried out by the Office of Health Economics has shown that for every euro spent on providing a vaccine there is €23 saved. This is important. As I said, some people can suffer long-term damage and health problems.”
“The issue I am raising is the shingles vaccine. As the Minister of State knows, shingles causes quite a lot of difficulty for people who get it. Herpes zoster is the other name for it. It is very painful. It can affect people really badly, especially when they get it close to the eye. I have come across people who have suffered long-term damage to their eyes from getting it in that area and I am sure the Minister of State has too. Over 30% of people who get shingles develop nerve pain and can suffer that for quite a long period. Anyone who has suffered chicken pox is more likely to get shingles at some stage in their lives. There is a high risk for people over 50 years of age. There is a high risk for people who have had Covid infection and also where people have chronic respiratory problems.”
“I fully agree that a lot of work is being done and a lot of improvements have occurred. The other challenge in early childcare is access to appropriate facilities. We need to work together on access to facilities, not only in the Minister's Department but also across other Government Departments. I have come across a number of areas where there is difficulty in getting access to facilities and therefore the service cannot be provided in particular areas. We need to do a lot more work on that, and especially in new housing areas where developers are slowing up in the provision of new facilities or there is no-one available to come in to provide those facilities. It is not only a staff challenge, it is also a challenge around the provision of the facilities.”
“I very much appreciate that additional funding is going into this area. It is interesting to see that the majority of services reported having difficulty recruiting staff over the last 12 months, a process that was reported as difficult or very difficult by 95% of managers. The challenges of recruiting and retaining staff are having stark consequences, with 30% of managers reporting that problems recruiting or retaining staff will result in service closure, an increase of 6% over the previous year's survey. The threat of room closures was reported by 42% of managers, an increase of 9% from 2022. There is a challenge there and it is about trying to meet that challenge and the demands out there in the provision of the services. This needs a continued review and planning for the year forward and into 2026.”
“Will the Minister confirm the staff retention rates among early years educators for the past five years and the actions being taken to improve staff retention in the sector? Will she make a statement on the matter?”
“One of the things we need to be careful about in the medical system is the fact that people who identify a problem can be afraid to raise it. We have seen the report of the Health Information and Quality Authority. Once we receive all of the reports, we need to ensure that every possible process is put in place so we do not have a repeat of this situation. Fifty or 60 years ago, procedures were carried out on women in maternity care but it took us 50 years to acknowledge the wrong that was done. Let us make sure in this case that we deal with the issue now and put proper processes in place to ensure it does not happen again at any time in the future.”
“When we move to the new children's hospital, we will need to be even more careful that slip-ups are not made and there are no long-term consequences for the people who require care. In terms of understanding healthcare, it is important to understand the rotational nature of the people working within the system, whether they are trainee nurses who have just started and are trying to acquire the skills, or a doctor who starts off as an intern, SHO, registrar, senior registrar or consultant and is moving around from hospital to hospital because it is part of the training process. It is important that while they are in the training process, if they see something not being properly carried out, they feel they can highlight the issue without being worried about their long-term promotional prospects.”
“It was important to work within the guidelines and with the approval of the ethics committee, but no such approval was given. No formal structure or process was in place to support the surgical multidisciplinary team at CHI Temple Street. The clinical director was not made aware of the intended use of these springs. No contracts were in place to carry out any type of safety or technical checks in respect of what was happening and springs were not ordered, tracked or listed on the business management system. None of that should have occurred. These are major errors that were made because someone decided they did not need to go through all of these processes. There is a big challenge ahead.”
“Relevant factors at national level which impacted the change included: - the COVID-19 pandemic[...] - the cyber-attack which occurred across public healthcare IT systems in May 2021 which also impacted CHI significantly - the continuing uncertainty of the substantial completion date of the National Children’s Hospital having a significant impact on planning and implementation for the organisation, including the recruitment of specialist contract staff and consultants required to commission the National Children’s Hospital. Those were the challenges they faced at the time and at such a time there is a need to be even more careful and to ensure all checks and balances are in place. The ethics and research committee had not approved the use of the springs. The ethics oversight process was in place at CHI Temple Street.”
“In the summer of 2023, public concerns were raised about their use and the surgical procedures that were taking place. In October 2023, the then Minister wrote to HIQA regarding serious patient safety issues and the need for an investigation. In the amalgamation of the hospital structure in Dublin into the new national children's hospital, it is interesting to see the changes occurring and the challenges managerial staff, nursing staff and doctors face. Page 28 of the report states: HIQA found that CHI was experiencing significant organisational and transformational change during the time period of this review - November 2018 to July 2023.”
“They must be given priority as regards how we care for them and be given the maximum support and the highest quality of care. Because they are not able to fight their own corner, they rely on us and their parents to fight their corner for them. It is important in any debate on medical issues to acknowledge the staff in our hospitals: nurses, doctors, care assistants, consultants, porters, management staff, right across the board. Every one of them goes to work in the morning and wants to provide the best possible care to the people they look after. Errors occur but the question is how to prevent those errors from occurring and how to have a system with checks and balances. The objective is to eliminate mistakes and ensure mistakes are not made. In this case, non-CE marked metal springs were used in the period 2020 to 2022.”
“It is important in dealing with this debate that we give reassurance to parents because they have gone through a difficult time. When a child needs any kind of surgical procedure, it is always challenging for parents to face into that. Are they making the right decision? Are they getting the right advice? Should they follow through? When they come across a difficulty like this and have to deal with it, they in some cases put the blame on themselves. They should not take any blame for anything that occurred here because they did the best for their child on the basis of the advice given to them. We need to acknowledge the priority that must be given to children who have a medical challenge in their lives, whether it relates to hip operations or any surgical procedure or whether it is cancer care.”
“The staff it has employed to cater for people who are homeless cost about €2 million per annum, so there is no extra cost because the staff are already in place.”
“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 building but need funding for its refurbishment. I note it is not included in the HSE capital plan. I ask that this issue be given priority. It would be a huge advantage to everyone. It is also about regenerating Cork city, the need to upgrade the city and the need to assist these people. The HSE has agreed it would move its staff into this centre.”
“I know of a number of sales that collapsed because the people buying who were borrowing money could not get insurance and the banks said they were not prepared to give them the loans they required.”
“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 standstill. People cannot even get money to refurbish many old properties because the banks will not give out money where they cannot get insurance for flood relief. When there was flooding there previously, a lot of damage was caused to properties, so the financial institutions will not risk giving out money again. If people want to sell a property, they are at standstill.”