Written Answers Nos. 726-741
726. Deputy Catherine Byrne asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of domestic adoptions and inter-country adoptions which took place here in 2013; and the number of social workers working in the area of adoption. [1288/14]
View answerEirGrid will do it.
727. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide, in tabular form and year on year, the occasions on which she has signed off on the awarding of added years to public sector workers between March 2011 and December 2013; the grade of the persons awarded the added years; and the number of added years awarded in each instance. [1355/14]
View answerThe award of notional service (or added years) relate to either (a) professional, technical or other grades and intended to compensate for the inability of individuals in such positions to qualify for the maximum retirement age for a full pension based on 40 years service (due to the minimum preconditions for appointment); or (b) early retirement due to ill-health resulting from a permanent disability which was not self-inflicted.. The award of any such notional service for civil servants employed at my Department is at the discretion of the Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform and I have no direct role in this regard. I can however, confirm to the Deputy that only one such award has been approved since my Department was established in June 2011. This was in respect of a Clerical Officer who had to retire early due to ill-health in 2012 and notional service of 9 years and 20 days were awarded.
Public service bodies under the aegis of my Department have their own superannuation schemes in place and I understand that the Children Detention Schools are the only body to have awarded notional or added years since 2011. This was in respect of 8 ill-health retirements. Details relating to these awards are being provided by my colleague Mr Alan Shatter, T.D. Minister for Justice and Equality in his response to this question as the pension scheme is administered from the Financial Shared Service operated by the Department of Justice and Equality.
728. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide, in tabular form and year on year, the number of commercial and non-commercial State agency board positions under the aegis of her Department filled between March 2011 and December 2013; the number of these positions that were publicly advertised; and the number of female appointments. [1371/14]
View answerThe Tánaiste deliberately avoided answering the question about the bonuses.
729. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if she will provide, in tabular form and year on year, the number of JobBridge interns taken on in her Department in 2013. [1387/14]
View answerWhen the Department of Children and Youth Affairs was established in June 2011, three Job Bridge internships were in-place at the Office of the Minister for Children and these transferred to the Department on its establishment. As such, the last Job Bridge placement at my Department expired in January 2012.
In addition to the Job Bridge Programme, my Department has facilitated three other intern positions since establishment. Two of these relate to graduate research placements and the other to a programme to promote access to the labour market for graduates with disabilities and build the capacity of employers to integrate disability into the mainstream workplace. One of the graduate internships is currently in place. As a small Department, this represents 0.7% of total staff currently on an internship programme.
730. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if child protection social workers will operate a service 24 hours a day, seven days per week under the remit of the newly established Child and Family Agency. [1676/14]
View answerThe Child and Family Agency (CFA) provides a range of services aimed at addressing emergency situations in the area of child welfare and protection. In the main, these emergency situations arise out of hours.
At present out-of-hours emergency services for children at risk in the greater Dublin area are provided through the Crisis Intervention Service (CIS). Outside the greater Dublin area the service is provided through the Emergency Place of Safety Service (EPSS).
The Crisis Intervention Service provides out-of-hours emergency social work assistance to young people aged under 18 years. Where necessary, the social worker arranges for a foster care or residential placement for the child until the next working day. The service operates across the greater Dublin area (Counties Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow). Referrals are made by service providers outside of normal working hours e.g. Gardaí, hospital and ambulance service personnel.
The Emergency Place of Safety Service (EPSS) operates outside the greater Dublin area and allows Gardaí to access an emergency placement for children found to be at risk out-of-hours. This service involves the placement of a child in a family setting until the next working day, when the local social work service assumes responsibility for the case. As part of this service Gardaí have access to advice and information from a social work off-site resource which is provided on a contract basis. The purpose of this service is to provide placements to children where Gardaí have removed children from their homes under Section 12 of the Child Care Act, outside of normal working hours, on an emergency basis or where a young person presents themselves as needing care and protection.
There has been a steady increase in the number of calls to the CIS and EPSS and an increase in the number of children placed since its commencement. In 2012 there were 712 referrals with 522 children placed in care and in the period to the end of the third quarter of 2013 there were 580 referrals and 432 children placed in care.
An Emergency Out of Hours Social Work service was piloted in Cork and Donegal. It is intended to expand this service in 2014 to include additional urban and rural areas and discussions are underway with stakeholders in this regard. The proposed service is to operate on the basis of a joint, national protocol between the CFA, an Garda Síochána and an external provider.
731. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the proposed role of her Department in contributing to the implementation of the youth guarantee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1790/14]
View answerThe youth sector, which is largely funded by my Department, offers a range of programmes and activities which aid and enhance the employability of young people. There is a growing body of research evidence which highlights how engagement in quality programmes helps young people to acquire important life skills such as confidence, problem solving, resilience and the ability to develop and maintain positive relationships and how it can enhance young people’s competences for communication, leadership and innovation and their employability.
Aside from direct programme provision, youth work services and programmes also offer outreach and information provision which can support and strengthen the work of existing strategies for young unemployed people. The flexible bespoke approaches which are demonstrated in the many initiatives, developed in the youth sector and underway on a limited basis in different parts of the country, have significant potential to be a bridgehead into more formal education and training opportunities for marginalised young people.
My Department continues to work closely with the Departments of Education and Skills, Social Protection and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, to identify in what ways, the youth sector can contribute to shared policy objectives to address youth employment, in particular with respect to the potential of non-formal learning to reach out to those young people not in education, training and employment and to measures to implement the Youth Guarantee. The National Youth Work Advisory Committee, whose members include representatives of voluntary youth work organisations, is also considering issues to do with progressing this important agenda for our young people.
I , and officials of my Department have met, and continue to meet with many youth organisations and groups to see how we can work together to bring about the best possible outcomes for young people and to ensure that the programmes and services being provided are relevant and responsive to young people’s needs, including the area of employment.
732. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs when she plans to publish the children and youth policy framework; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1791/14]
View answerWork on the completion of the new Children and Young People’s Policy Framework is now at a very advanced stage and I expect to be a position to submit the Policy Framework for Government approval in the very near future. The Policy Framework will cover the period 2014-2018 and will build on Our Children — Their Lives, the first National Children’s Strategy which was published in 2000. The development of the Framework will meet one of the key recommendations of the implementation plan for the Ryan Report.
The Policy Framework will provide a whole-of-Government approach to policies for children and young people and a means for cross departmental collaboration to promote the well-being of children and young people. The Policy Framework will comprehend the continuum from infancy through early and middle childhood to adolescence and early adulthood and provide the overarching framework for the development and implementation of policy and services for children and young people. The Policy Framework will be supported by more detailed strategies in relation to specific age cohorts such as Early Years and Youth.
The views of a wide range of interests, including children and young people, have been taken into account through the following consultations:
- the results of a consultation in 2011, which focussed on children and young people, in which almost 67,000 people throughout the country participated and the results of the analysis of the consultation were published last November;
- a public consultation of the general public conducted during in 2012. Over 1,000 submissions were received as part of that consultation. An analysis of the submissions was completed last April;
- the advice of the National Children’s Advisory Council which represents a range of statutory and non-statutory organisations working with children and young people; and
- detailed discussions with other Government Departments.
733. Deputy Dominic Hannigan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs her views on the proposed EU Work Plan for Youth; if she supports this proposal; if so, what the Irish Government priorities will be; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1792/14]
View answerEU Council Conclusions on Maximising the role of youth policy in addressing the goals of Europe 2020, adopted in May 2013 during Ireland’s Presidency of the EU, invited Member States and the European Commission to develop a medium-term EU Work Plan for Youth.
The purpose of this Work Plan is to guide EU youth policy and youth related policy work in response to current youth and youth related themes and trends and in particular, to strengthen cooperation in the field of youth between the Member States and the Commission as well as collaboration with education and training and employment policies.
I believe that this EU Work Plan will bring added value to youth policy at EU level, while at the same time, promote the sharing of expertise of the youth field with other policy areas. Furthermore, it will strengthen cross-sectoral cooperation and streamline the aims of youth policy within the targets of Europe 2020. It will also enhance our flexibility to respond to emerging issues in the youth field in line with Council priorities.
At the Council of EU Youth Ministers last November, I identified youth employment as an important priority for inclusion in the EU Work Plan. This is the most pressing and pertinent challenge facing young people in Ireland and across the EU. The challenge of youth unemployment needs to be front and centre to our considerations and this needs to be prioritised in the EU Work Plan. Another area which I identified as being key is the issue of young people’s health and well-being. In particular, mental health is an issue of major importance for young people.
The first EU Work Plan will be discussed and developed under the Greek Presidency and will cover the period until the end of 2015. I will be working closely with my Trio Presidency Partners and EU Youth Ministers in this regard over the coming months.
734. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of disability payments made to a person (details supplied) in County Laois for the period between 1970 and 1990; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55303/13]
View answer786. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health the financial contribution a person (details supplied) in County Laois made towards the cost of their care for the period from 1970 to 1996; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55539/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 734 and 786 together.
I understand that these queries arose in the context of litigation proceedings which, following the provision of relevant details to the legal representatives of the person concerned, have now been satisfactorily resolved.
735. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health the position with regard to his proposals regarding the licensing of tobacco retailers, as outlined in budget 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1368/14]
View answer736. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Health his plans for the licensing of tobacco vending machines; who the awarding body will be; the cost of the licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1423/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 735 and 736 together.
As the Deputies will be aware, under current Irish tobacco control legislation, a retailer wishing to sell tobacco products, whether over the counter or from a self-service vending machine, must register with the HSE National Tobacco Control Office and be placed on the Retail Register for the sale of tobacco products. Under the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2002, as amended, the HSE may charge a fee as may be determined by the Minister for Health. To date this has been a once off fee of €50.
Tobacco Free Ireland, Ireland’s tobacco control policy, sets out recommendations for the future regulation of the tobacco retail environment. The Government proposes to increase the Retail Register fee during 2014, in the context of legislation to provide for the licensing of the sale of tobacco products as outlined in Tobacco Free Ireland . Work is ongoing in relation to this legislation, and as such details are not yet available.
737. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Health if his Department has carried out a regulatory impact analysis on the proposed Public Health Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Bill 2013; the persons involved in this analysis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55202/13]
View answerIn line with the Regulatory Impact Assessment Guidelines (RIA) published by the Department of the Taoiseach, my Department is undertaking a Regulatory Impact Analysis on the proposed legislation for the introduction of standardised packaging for tobacco products. Consultation with relevant stakeholders is an integral part of the RIA process, which will consider the costs, benefits and impacts of the proposals. Arrangements are being made in relation to consulting with the key stakeholders in this regard.
738. Deputy Anne Ferris asked the Minister for Health if he will consider including Crohn's disease in the long-term illness scheme in view of the financial hardship it is causing persons who do not qualify for medical cards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55225/13]
View answer866. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health if the medical condition Churg-Strauss syndrome is covered under the long-term illness scheme; if not, if consideration will be given to its inclusion as it is an extremely rare long-term medical condition with only two to five new cases per year per million people (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1331/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 738 and 866 together.
There are no plans to extend the list of conditions covered by the Long Term Illness scheme. Under the Drug Payment Scheme, no individual or family pays more than €144 per calendar month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines. The scheme significantly reduces the cost burden for families and individuals incurring ongoing expenditure on medicines.
In addition, people who cannot, without undue hardship, arrange for the provision of medical services for themselves and their dependants may be entitled to a medical card. In the assessment process, the Health Service Executive can take into account medical costs incurred by an individual or a family. Those who are not eligible for a medical card may still be able to avail of a GP visit card, which covers the cost of GP consultations.
739. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the epilepsy monitoring unit at Cork University Hospital was refurbished in autumn 2012 but still has not opened, despite it being pledged for the third quarter of 2013; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that the hospital has diverted funding received for the unit to other services and projects within the hospital; if he is aware that this is a most crucial yet basic service for persons with difficult to control epilepsy and there is only one other functioning unit in the country at Beaumont, which re-opened this summer having also been closed for more than nine months with many people continuing to be referred abroad for essential monitoring as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55227/13]
View answer741. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health the level of funding that was set aside for the epilepsy monitoring unit at Cork University Hospital; and where this funding was redirected [55229/13]
View answer750. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health when he will open the new epilepsy monitoring unit at Cork University Hospital; if funding that was received for this unit has been diverted to other services-projects within the hospital; if he will provide a specific opening date for this unit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55290/13]
View answer771. Deputy Michael McCarthy asked the Minister for Health when the epilepsy monitoring unit at Cork University Hospital will be opened and available to receive patients; the reason for the delay in view of the considerable funding invested into this unit to date; when he expects recruitment of nurses and EEG technicians required to operate the unit will be finalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55468/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 739, 741, 750 and 771 together.
The Epilepsy National Clinical Care Programme provides for the commissioning of a Regional Epilepsy Monitoring Unit to provide accessible, comprehensive care for patients in the Southern area, particularly those with acutely unstable and disabling chronic Epilepsy.
The Executive Management Board of Cork University Hospital allocated ward 3A as a suitable location for the dedicated Epilepsy Monitoring Unit to be shared with the facility for stroke services. Funding of €140,000 was provided for the infrastructural upgrade of ward 3A and a further €217,000 was provided for the purchase of the required epilepsy monitoring equipment.
The HSE has advised that in order to commission the unit, the recruitment of additional nursing and allied health professional staff is required. Interviews for the Neurophysiology Technician posts have been completed and the HSE National Recruitment Agency is contacting successful candidates to offer contracts of employment. Recruitment of nursing staff has, I understand, been particularly challenging, but I am assured that the recruitment process is in the final stages, and candidates who were successful at interview are now being offered contracts of employment.
The HSE has advised that the Unit is now equipped and will open on the 31 March 2014.
740. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health the number of persons sent abroad for epilepsy related treatments during each of the past 48 months and the cost per individual treatment. [55228/13]
View answerThe information sought by the Deputy is not readily available. However, I have asked the Health Service Executive to supply this information to me and I will forward it to the Deputy as soon as possible.
