Written Answers Nos 889-904
889. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the progress made to date in respect of a review of an application for a medical card in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27142/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has recently reissued to Oireachtas members.
890. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Health if he will clarify the position regarding requirements on public transport companies in the public and private sector to have policies or take action on the provision or erection of public health notices on buses and trains, encouraging customers to prevent the spread of germs by using a tissue when coughing or sneezing; if there are already legal requirements on such companies to do so; the person who enforces same; and if he will request our transport companies to take action regarding same. [27155/13]
View answerThere are no requirements on public companies to provide public health information as a matter of course. However, in the event of a high risk to public health information materials will be widely distributed. During the SARS pandemic in 2003 all public transport companies operating on cross border routes displayed information notices in several languages. Information notices were also distributed on all flights and ferries arriving in the State. During the Influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in 2009 visual alerts regarding optimum hygiene and infection control measures were widely displayed in public places, offices and many transport services. Radio and Television media also provided air-time without charge for these important public health announcements. Infection control posters and information are available to download from www.hpsc.ie.
891. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health if a European medical card will issue in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27166/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has recently reissued to Oireachtas members.
892. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in opening the 24 bed Blanchardstown Hospice, Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27172/13]
View answerAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
893. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 216 of 23 May 2013, the alternative available to patients who urgently require a video EEG monitoring test in the absence of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit being opened at Beaumont Hospital Dublin. [27184/13]
View answerThe HSE has advised that the planned opening date for the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit in Beaumont Hospital is 17th June 2013. Three of the five staff nurses required to provide the continuous care for this service have commenced work in Beaumont Hospital and recruitment is ongoing for the remaining two posts. The unit will initially open with two beds, with the full complement of four opened when the balance of the staff is in place. Three technician posts required to support the service have been filled, and it is envisaged that the consultant neurophysiologist will commence in July 2013.
894. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) (Medical Indemnity Insurance) Bill 2013. [27190/13]
View answerThe purpose of the Medical Practitioners (Amendment) (Medical Indemnity Insurance) Bill 2013 is to make it mandatory, for registration purposes, for all medical practitioners engaged in the practice of medicine to have adequate medical indemnity insurance. Parliamentary Counsel has been appointed and drafting of the Bill is at an advanced stage. Officials in my Department are in regular contact with the Attorney General's Office regarding this Bill, which is on the ‘A’ List of the Government’s Legislative Programme for the Summer 2013 Parliamentary session.
895. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health if personal hours will be reinstated in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27235/13]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.
896. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health if he has considered providing IVF treatment funded and delivered by the public health system. [27266/13]
View answer899. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health his views on whether it is fair that women requiring IVF treatment when no other treatment is likely to be effective in assisting human reproduction can only avail of such treatment through the private health service. [27269/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 896 and 899 together.
Assisted Human Reproduction treatment (AHR) is not provided or funded by the public health system; such treatment is available from clinics that operate privately. Patients who access these services privately may claim tax relief on the costs involved under the tax relief for medical expenses scheme. In addition, a defined list of fertility medicines needed for fertility treatment is covered under the High Tech Scheme administered by the Health Service Executive. Medicines covered by the High Tech Scheme must be prescribed by a consultant/specialist and authorised by the High Tech Liaison Officers. The cost of the medicines is reflected in the PCRS Statistical Analysis of Claims and Payments under High Tech Drugs. Patients may then use their valid established eligibility for GMS or Drug Payment Scheme, as appropriate, to access the medicines. I am conscious of the financial burden that fertility services can place on the couples concerned; however, this matter has to be considered in the context of the difficult economic situation that prevails and the other compelling funding demands across a full range of health issues.
897. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health the number of women here that received IVF treatment in 2012. [27267/13]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that there is no national repository for statistics of the type she has requested. However, statistics on Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) and births following AHR in Ireland are available from the European Society of Embryology and Human Reproduction (ESHRE). The most recent statistics published by ESHRE concern data for 2008, and showed that in Ireland a total of 1,740 IVF cycle treatments took place in that year. The data showed that 873 infants were born in 2008 as a result of fertility treatment. Information is not available on the number of women concerned. The Deputy, however, may wish to note these statistics come from five reporting clinics and not all fertility clinics operating in Ireland participate in this data collection process.
898. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health the annual cost to the Exchequer for the provision of IVF treatment to suitable candidates through the public health system. [27268/13]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, IVF treatment is not currently provided or funded by the public health system. However, a defined list of fertility medicines is covered under the High Tech Scheme administered by the Health Service Executive. The cost of the medicines is reflected in the PCRS Statistical Analysis of Claims and Payments under High Tech Drugs, and patients may use their valid established eligibility for GMS or Drug Payment Scheme, as appropriate, to access the medicines. As the specific information requested by the Deputy concerns a service issue, it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
900. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health if he will review the decision to refuse a full medical card in respect of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27274/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has recently reissued to Oireachtas members.
901. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health if he will consider reversing the decision of the National Centre for Pharmaeconomics to cease providing Pirfenidone to patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. [27275/13]
View answer902. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health the additional annual cost to the Health Service Executive budget for more frequent and longer hospital stays arising from the National Centre for Pharmaeconomics decision to cease providing Pirfenidone to patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. [27276/13]
View answer941. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will clarify the position regarding supply and or availability of medication (details supplied) under the various drug schemes; if such medication is available under any circumstances; the extra documentation necessary to support a case for inclusion of this medication under current schemes; if there is an appeal process; if there is an alternative approved medication; if guidance will be offered on the way this necessary medication to curtail this life threatening illness can be obtained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26844/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 901, 902 and 941 together.
The HSE has received an application for the inclusion of pirfenidone in the GMS and community drugs schemes. The application is being considered in line with the procedures and timescales agreed last year by the Department of Health and the HSE with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) for the assessment of new medicines. In accordance with these procedures, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) conducted a pharmacoeconomic evaluation of pirfenidone and concluded that, at the submitted price, pirfenidone is not cost-effective for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The report is available on the NCPE's website (www.ncpe.ie). The NCPE report is an important input to assist decision making and informs further discussions between the HSE and the manufacturer of the drug.
The HSE has had negotiations with Intermune (the manufacturer of pirfenidone) in relation to the pricing of pirfenidone and is examining an offer made by Intermune. The offer will be assessed in the context of the procedures for the assessment of new medicines as per the 2012 agreement between IPHA, the HSE and the Department of Health. The HSE is carefully considering all the issues which arise in relation to the proposed benefits and costs of this medicine and expects to reach a decision in the near future.
903. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health if he will consider extending the HPV vaccination programme to boys in view of the link between the virus and head and neck cancer; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that this type of cancer is the sixth most common cancer in men and the sixteenth most common in women; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27286/13]
View answerInternational studies and scientific assessments suggest that the best way to prevent most disease due to HPV is to vaccinate as many girls and women as possible. Routine vaccination is not recommended for boys. According to research carried out by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the burden of disease associated with HPV 16/18 in males is small, as it is related to some anogenital and head and neck cancers and the efficacy of vaccines for the prevention of these relatively rare cancers is not yet known. Following an evaluation of the HPV vaccine in the Irish context, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee recommended that all girls of 12 years of age should be offered HPV vaccination.
904. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the total cost of antidepressant medication to the health system, both community and in hospital, respectively, in 2012; the steps which are being taken to reduce the prescribing of such medication; if he will consider providing PCRS the flexibility to fund talk therapies as an alternative to prescribing drugs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27287/13]
View answerThe HSE is responsible for the administration of the primary care schemes, therefore, the matter has been referred to the HSE for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
