Written Answers Nos 218-225
218. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will report on the Education and Welfare Service; the numbers of staff dealing with school attendance cases; the basis and location of staff deployment; the child population served by each office/officer; and the proposals to expand the service to meet unmet need. [30932/13]
View answerWithin the statutory remit of the National Educational Welfare Board (NEWB), the Education Welfare Service (EWS) has specific responsibility for the Board’s general function to ensure that each child attends a recognised school or otherwise receives a certain minimum education. The EWS has a current staffing complement of 74 officers delivering front line services, 2 of whom have distinct duties in relation to the education of children in places other than recognised schools.
I am advised by the NEWB that the EWS worked with over 20,000 children in 2012, of which 2,420 were intensive interventions which required sustained support from an Education Welfare Officer (EWO) and a multidisciplinary approach in order to address the complex barriers to school attendance.
Table 1 below details the existing EWS distribution by location, officer numbers and estimated student population.
The NEWB is in the process of refining and implementing a new strategic approach to service delivery through the integrated working of its three service strands, namely; the Education Welfare Service (EWS); Home School Community Liaison Programme (HSCL – 402 school-based co-ordinators); and School Completion Programme (SCP – €26.456m in funding provided to support 124 school cluster projects and related initiatives). This integrated model of service will provide an enhanced response to the needs of children, families and schools. As part of this process the NEWB is also reviewing the basis on which the EWS was originally configured and a full consultation process is underway with EWS staff and their representatives to reconfigure and optimise service delivery to ensure an appropriate correlation between EWO resources, student population and their needs.
Vacancies that arise in staffing front line services for children and young people at risk of early school leaving are prioritised by my Department in so far as possible working within Government policy on public service numbers and the moratorium on recruitment.
Table 1
|
Regional Office |
Sub offices covered in region |
EWOs |
SEWOs |
Regional Managers |
Estimated Student Population per Regional Office |
|
Dublin City |
Dublin City |
11 |
1 |
vacancy |
80229 |
|
Leinster North / Ulster |
Blanchardstown, Cavan, Dundalk, Drogheda, Navan |
11 |
3 |
vacancy |
187662 |
|
Leinster South |
Tallaght, Bray, Clondalkin, Naas, Carlow, Clondalkin, Kilkenny,Waterford, Wexford |
10 |
3 |
1 |
170193 |
|
Munster |
Cork City, Skibbereen, Limerick, Thurles, Tralee, Ennis |
14 |
2 |
1 |
219761 |
|
West / North West |
Galway City, Castlebar, Sligo, Donegal Town, Longford Town, Athlone, Tullamore, Portlaoise, Mullingar |
13 |
3 |
1 |
179291 |
|
Totals |
30 office locations |
59 |
12 |
3 |
837136 |
219. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health if he has received an application for the funding of a programme focused on autistic children from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association; when a decision will be made on this application; his views on the proposal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30866/13]
View answerMy Department has no record of having received an application from the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind Association for funding of a programme focussed on autisic children in the current year. My Department administers a small National Lottery Discretionary Fund from which once-off grants are paid to community and voluntary organisations, providing a range of health related services. An organisation wishing to make an application for National Lottery Funding should send in a formal application. Detailed procedures, along with the application form are set out on the Department's website at www.doh.ie
220. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health if an analysis has been undertaken of the revenue that could be raised for the Exchequer if minimum alcohol pricing was introduced in off-licences, with drinks companies then levied for the increased price portion. [30926/13]
View answerProposals are currently being finalised on foot of the recommendations in the Steering Group Report on a National Substance Misuse Strategy 2012. These proposals cover all of the areas mentioned in the report, including measures on access and availability of alcohol; controls on alcohol advertising and sponsorship; labelling of alcohol products, and legislation on minimum unit pricing.
Minimum unit pricing is a mechanism of imposing a statutory floor in price levels per gram of alcohol that must be legally observed by retailers in both the on and off trade sector. A health impact assessment, in conjunction with Northern Ireland, is being commissioned as part of the process of developing a legislative basis for minimum unit pricing. The assessment will study the impact of different minimum prices on a range of areas such as health, crime and likely economic impact. It is only upon completion of this work that the precise quantification of impact from an economic and social point of view if Ireland can be understood.
The provision of such a price measure for alcohol - as opposed to fiscal measures - is aimed chiefly at preventing the sale of alcohol at very cheap prices. A minimum pricing regime is a proportional policy exigency that allows the State to engage another parameter to deal with managing the supply of alcohol for the purpose of preventing its misuse. It is a policy aimed at those who drink in a harmful and hazardous manner.
221. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Health if he will review the home care hours provided to a person (details supplied) in County Cork in view of the fact that the current provision is not sufficient; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30869/13]
View answerAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
222. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health if he will support a public awareness campaign for twenty patients in the Mater Hospital, Dublin, who need heart transplants and that would encourage families whose loved ones have passed away in fatal accidents to donor to this crisis situation. [30889/13]
View answerI have been informed by the HSE that in 2012 there were 10 heart transplants performed with 13 patients awaiting transplantation. To date in 2013 there have been 4 heart transplants with 14 patients awaiting transplantation. The National Organ Donation and Transplantation Office is progressing the deployment of specialist donor co-ordinators across the emerging hospital networks in line with best international practice. In parallel, it is proposed to employ a public awareness campaign via social networking to enhance the public's awareness of the benefits of organ donation.
The Programme for Government envisages the introduction of an opt-out system of organ donation, with a view to improving the availability of organs for patients in need of transplantation. This will require detailed consideration and further consultation and I am developing proposals for Government on this matter. The public consultation process in relation to how such an opt-out system should operate, will generate greater public awareness of the need for organ donation.
In addition to consent systems, there is evidence from other countries that good co-ordination at hospital level and counselling arrangements for relatives are significant factors in achieving high organ donation rates. In conjunction with the HSE's National Organ Donation and Transplantation Office my Department is also examining what practices and organisational changes could further improve donation rates.
The Deputy may also wish to note that following discussions between my Department and the Road Safety Authority, the new Driving Licence Application Form contains a question asking applicants if they would like a code to be placed on their driving licence indicating their wish to become an organ donor. Since the introduction of a new type of driving licence on 19 January, the code that will appear on new driving licences issued to people who indicate that they wish to become an organ donor, is 115. My Department has written to the National Organ Donation and Transplantation Office and the Regional Directors of Operations in the HSE asking them to alert relevant hospital staff to this initiative and to the code which will appear on new driving licences of people who wish to donate. My Department is also in discussion with the Department of Social Protection with a view to including a similar code on the Public Services Card.
223. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card in respect of persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30890/13]
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.
224. Deputy Gerald Nash asked the Minister for Health his views on the need to establish a protected title of creative arts therapists in the Health Service Executive; if he intends to bring the profession under the aegis of the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 in the interests of the profession and the public; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30960/13]
View answerThe Health and Social Care Professionals Council (the Council) and the 12 registration boards to be established under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 are responsible for protecting the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct and professional education, training and competence among the registrants of the following 12 health and social care professions designated under the Act: clinical biochemists, dietitians, medical scientists, occupational therapists, orthoptists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, psychologists, radiographers, social care workers, social workers and speech and language therapists. In time, and in accordance with the provisions of the 2005 Act, only registrants will be entitled to use these titles.
The first registration board to be established, the Social Workers Registration Board, was established in August 2010, and the associated Social Workers Register opened for receipt and processing of applications on 31st May, 2011. A second registration board, the Radiographers Registration Board, was established on 16th December, 2011 and its register is expected to be established shortly. Three further registration boards, the Dietitians Registration Board, the Occupational Therapists Registration Board, and the Speech and Language Therapists Registration Board have been established with effect from 1st November 2012. It is proposed to establish the Physiotherapists Registration Board shortly and expressions of interest from interested parties are currently being examined with a view to filling vacancies on the soon to be established Board.
All the registration boards and their registers for the remaining designated professions should be established by 2015.
While the legislation empowers the Minister for Health to include, if he considers it appropriate and in the public interest to do so, additional health and social care professions in the regulatory system over time, and under specific criteria, I have no plans at present to regulate creative arts therapists. The question of regulating further health and social care professionals may be reviewed post 2015 in the context of progress made at that juncture.
225. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health the steps he will take to tackle the below average access to primary healthcare or general practitioner care in the Dundalk area, County Louth as highlighted in the Dundalk Gateway Report of May 2013 carried out by the BMW Regional Assembly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30971/13]
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.
