Michael Healy-Rae
Question:665. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if a battery pack for a wheelchair will be expedited for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17934/24]
View answerMedical Aids and Appliances
Questions (665)
Written answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Regulatory Bodies
Questions (666)
Steven Matthews
Question:666. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Health , further to Parliamentary Question No. 282 of 18 April 2024, if his attention has been drawn to delays in the establishment of a register of counsellors and psychotherapists by a group (details supplied); the actions he will take to ensure this process is expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17937/24]
View answerWritten answers
As the Deputy will be aware, CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator. CORU’s role is to protect the public by regulating the health and social care professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended), including setting the standards that health and social care professionals must meet to be eligible for registration and maintaining registers of persons who meet those standards.
Seventeen health and social care professions are designated for regulation by CORU. There are currently registers open for twelve professions and CORU is continuing the substantial work required to open the registers for the remaining designated professions of Psychologists; Counsellors and Psychotherapists; Clinical Biochemists; and Orthoptists.
CORU’s regulatory model is based on protection of title; once a profession is regulated it becomes a criminal offence to use a professional title if a person is not a CORU registrant.
Each profession designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act has its own independent registration board with statutory responsibility for:
Establishing and maintaining the register of members for that profession;
Recognising qualifications gained outside the State;
Approving and monitoring education and training programmes for entry to the register; and
Setting the code of professional conduct and ethics giving guidance to professionals on Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Regulations to designate the professions of counsellor and psychotherapist under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended) were made by the previous Minister for Health, Simon Harris TD, in 2019. The Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board (CPRB) was established in February 2019. Its membership comprises practitioners, representatives from education and training, and lay members.
The work of the CPRB includes consideration of the titles to be protected and the minimum qualifications to be required of existing practitioners and the qualifications that will be required for future graduates. The work of the CPRB is significantly more challenging than it is for registration boards for some of the more established professions owing to the different and complex pathways into these professions, the variety of titles used, and the variety and number of courses and course providers.
The CPRB undertook an extensive research process to inform the drafting of standards and criteria. This included a review of contemporary evidence-informed academic literature, an examination of comparator international professional standards, and understanding the contemporary practice of the profession in Ireland. Key stakeholders, including the public (through a public consultation process), are also part of the drafting process.
Throughout the course of 2022 and 2023, the CPRB drafted threshold level standards of knowledge, skills and professional behaviour – its Standards of Proficiency – and the systems and processes that education providers must have in place to ensure consistent and effective delivery of graduates who have achieved the Standards of Proficiency – its Criteria for Education and Training Programmes. Two sets of these requirements were drafted: one for counsellors and one for psychotherapists representing the first attempt to establish distinct standards for each profession in Ireland and the first effort to standardise threshold level education and training requirements for entry to each profession.
The introduction of regulation to the counselling profession is a top priority for CORU. Extensive work has already been carried out by the CPRB to achieve this. Most recently a public consultation was held on the Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for the counselling profession.
The CPRB is now reviewing the many responses received during this consultation. Following this extensive review activity, the Board will communicate the next steps in the process towards introducing statutory regulation for counsellors.
Owing to the significant body of preparatory work that the CPRB are required to undertake, it is not possible to say with any degree of accuracy when the professions of counsellor and psychotherapist will be fully regulated. I would anticipate that the CPRB will require a number of years to complete its work.
Departmental Data
Questions (667)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:667. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the incidence rate of shingles for those aged under 50 and over 50 years, respectively, for each of the past five years to date. [17942/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Meals-on-Wheels Services
Questions (668)
John McGuinness
Question:668. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the status of the meals-on-wheels service operated by the HSE in Kilmoganny, County Kilkenny; if each recipient of the service has been consulted on the changes being considered; if alternative arrangements are being made to accommodate those that need the service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17945/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Question No. 669 answered with Question No. 620.
Medicinal Products
Questions (670)
David Cullinane
Question:670. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the reason reimbursement support for Ozempic® (Semaglutide) is only available to those with eligibility under the general medical services scheme or the long-term illness scheme, and is not available on the drugs payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17966/24]
View answerWritten answers
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the community drug schemes, in accordance with the provisions of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. Reimbursement is for licensed indications which have been granted market authorisation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).
In line with the 2013 Act and the national framework agreed with industry, a company must submit an application to the HSE to have a new medicine added to the reimbursement list. In making a relevant reimbursement decision, the HSE is required under the Act to have regard to a number of criteria including efficacy, the health needs of the public, cost effectiveness and potential or actual budget impact. HSE decisions on which medicines are reimbursed are made on objective, scientific and economic grounds, on the advice of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE).
Ozempic® (Semaglutide) is indicated for the treatment of adults with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus as an adjunct to diet and exercise; as monotherapy when metformin is considered inappropriate due to intolerance or contraindications; and in addition to other medicinal products for the treatment of diabetes. Ozempic® (Semaglutide) is not licensed for the treatment of weight management in a non-diabetic population.
Ozempic® (Semaglutide) was approved by the HSE in September 2018 for addition to the reimbursement list in accordance with its licensed indication (see www.ncpe.ie/semaglutide-ozempic/).
Controls are currently in place within the HSE's Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) in relation to Semaglutide (Ozempic®) to restrict reimbursement support to the approved indication. It is for this reason that reimbursement for Semaglutide (Ozempic®) is confined to those with eligibility under the General Medical Services Scheme (GMS) or the Long-Term Illness (LTI) scheme and is not made available on the Drugs Payment Scheme.
In accordance with the provisions of the Health Act 1970 (as amended), eligibility for a medical card under the GMS Scheme is determined by the HSE by means of a financial assessment. In certain circumstances, the HSE may exercise discretion and grant a medical card, even though an applicant exceeds the income guidelines, where he or she faces difficult financial circumstances, such as extra costs arising from illness.
The LTI Scheme was established under Section 59(3) of the Health Act 1970 (as amended). Regulations were made prescribing 16 conditions covered by the Scheme, including diabetes mellitus. There is no means test for the LTI Scheme.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Questions (671)
Joe McHugh
Question:671. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Health the reason dermatology services at Letterkenny University Hospital and Sligo University Hospital have not been included as priority areas of focus in the national waiting list action plan, given the high proportion of patients waiting over 18 months, per the National Treatment Purchase Fund, for dermatology services in both hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17967/24]
View answerWritten answers
It is accepted that many patients still must wait too long for hospital appointments and treatments.
As part of the multi-annual approach to reducing waiting lists, and just as importantly the length of time that patients are waiting, I published the 2024 Waiting List Action Plan (WLAP) on 27th March. Total funding of €360 million has been provided for the WLAP this year which sets out 19 Actions across three themes: Delivering Capacity, Reforming Scheduled Care and Enabling Scheduled Care Reform.
The WLAP approach, initiated in 2021, encompasses a two-pronged approach of short-term actions to increase capacity and activity in the immediate term, and longer-term reform measures to sustainably reduce and reform hospital waiting lists and waiting times. The 2024 WLAP builds on the work of previous plans which have achieved significant progress in overall waiting list reduction and in addressing long waiting times, against a backdrop of significantly increased demand for scheduled care services.
In relation to the particular query raised, as this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Hospital Services
Questions (672)
Pádraig Mac Lochlainn
Question:672. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health the number of persons with type 1 diabetes attending the adult diabetes service in Letterkenny University Hospital; the number waiting fewer than 12, between 12 and 24 and waiting more than 24 months for an endocrinology appointment; and the longest waiting time for an appointment. [17970/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Medicinal Products
Questions (673)
Robert Troy
Question:673. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite the approval of fenfluramine for the treatment of dravet syndrome (details supplied). [17972/24]
View answerWritten answers
Under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, the HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on the pricing and reimbursement of medicines. Therefore, the matter has been referred to the HSE for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
Questions (674)
Bernard Durkan
Question:674. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health whether any interim payment is available in the case of a person (details supplied) who is a HSE worker who contracted Covid on the frontline during the pandemic but has suffered with ill health ever since and currently has no income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17974/24]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.