Written Answers Nos. 175 - 185
175. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the ongoing attempts by Lifeline Inishowen Domestic Violence Support Service to attain modest funding support so that it can can continue to operate and serve a population of 40,000 in the peninsula; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6113/14]
View answerResponsibility for Domestic, Sexual and Gender based Violence Services previously funded by the HSE became the responsibility of the new Child and Family Agency upon its establishment on 1 January, 2014. Overall policy responsibility for domestic, sexual and gender based violence rests with my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality supported by Cosc (the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence) which was established as an executive office of the Department of Justice and Equality in 2007.
A Programme Manager who was appointed within the Child and Family Agency this week will review all areas of Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based services and produce a national strategy for service delivery by end of 2014. Services in the Donegal area will be considered in this review. Services in Donegal for victims of domestic violence are currently being provided by the Donegal Domestic Violence Services and they remain the sole recipient of support for funding to provide a service in Donegal. As part of their service arrangement, this service currently operates four outreach clinics in Carndonagh, Buncrana, Moville and Clonmany to ensure that people in Donegal who are unable to visit the service in Letterkenny can meet with trained workers in a confidential environment in their own location.
176. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the per capita spending by her Department for youth services in each county in 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5913/14]
View answerThe Youth Affairs Unit of my Department administers a range of funding schemes, programmes and supports to the youth sector. In 2013, funding of €51.748m was provided to support the provision of youth services and programmes to young people throughout the country including those from disadvantaged communities. This includes €1.035m for the Local Youth Club Grant Scheme, under which 1,600 local youth clubs and 10,000 participants benefit each year. This funding is allocated by my Department to the Education and Training Boards (ETBs) on the basis of youth population numbers.
Targeted supports for disadvantaged, marginalised and at risk young people are provided through the Special Projects for Youth Scheme, the Young Peoples Facilities and Services Fund Rounds 1 and 2 and Local Drugs Task Force Projects. These funding schemes support national and local youth work projects and services provided by the voluntary youth work sector. It is estimated some 400,000 young people participate in the programmes and services which are provided by approximately 1,400 paid staff and 40,000 volunteers working in youth work services and communities throughout the country.
The funding for local youth projects and services throughout the country is administered on behalf of my Department, in the main, by the ETBs. A small number of other organisations also hold funding administration status.
A breakdown of the per capita spend per county is not readily available in my Department but details of the 2013 allocations to each funding administering body for local youth projects in their respective areas is set out as follows:
|
Administering Body |
2013 Allocation |
|
City of Dublin ETB |
11,201,411 |
|
County Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB |
6,659,045 |
|
City and County Cork ETB |
2,573,257 |
|
City of Limerick and County Limerick and Clare ETB |
1,564,216 |
|
Waterford and Wexford ETB |
966,930 |
|
Co. Wicklow and Kildare ETB |
912,613 |
|
Co. Kerry ETB |
180,150 |
|
Co. Tipperary ETB |
167,591 |
|
Co. Donegal ETB |
353,463 |
|
Co. Longford and Westmeath ETB |
212,856 |
|
Co. Louth and Meath ETB |
50,995 |
|
Co. Cavan and Monaghan ETB |
9,926 |
|
Co. Carlow and Kilkenny ETB |
271,919 |
|
Co. Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim ETB |
28,497 |
|
City and County Galway and Roscommon ETB |
1,175,492 |
|
Dublin City Council |
1,729,198 |
|
Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council |
387,083 |
|
Offaly County Council |
43,894 |
|
Udarás na Gaeltachta |
55,643 |
|
HSE – Sligo/Leitrim |
44,812 |
|
HSE South, Waterford |
1,029,491 |
|
FAI |
349,243 |
|
An Síol Community Development Project, Dublin |
47,124 |
|
ISPCC |
45,441 |
|
Limerick GAA |
45,441 |
|
Munster Rugby |
45,441 |
|
Athlone Town Council |
1,683 |
The following allocations were provided in respect of local projects throughout the country which are under the auspices of certain national youth organisations.
|
Youth Work Ireland |
4,685,557 |
|
Crosscare (formerly Catholic Youth Care) |
73,123 |
|
Involve (formerly National Association of Travellers Centres) |
361,627 |
|
Foróige |
45,441 |
|
ECO-UNESCO |
68,162 |
|
YMCA |
45,441 |
In addition, capital funding of €1.5m was provided in 2013 for the start-up of new Youth Cafés and thirty applications for Youth Cafés have been approved in locations throughout the country. Details of the successful proposals are available on my Department's website - www.dcya.gov.ie.
The notification of the 2014 allocations for local projects and services are being issued to the grant administering bodies by the Youth Affairs Unit of my Department this week.
177. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the reason a family (details supplied) in County Kildare has not been informed by their social workers or the reason the family's solicitor has not been informed of the reason the family is under possible investigation by her Department; if it is normal to investigate families while at the same time withholding from them the reason they are under investigation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5986/14]
View answerI have forwarded the information provided by the Deputy to the Child and Family Agency for consideration. The Agency will reply directly to the Deputy in relation to this case. It would not be appropriate for me to comment in advance of this or on the particular circumstances involved.
178. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the supports in terms of a child care assistant-special needs assistant available to a child with a chromosome deletion disorder who wishes to avail of the free preschool year in 2014-15; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5904/14]
View answerThe free pre-school year is provided through the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Programme, which is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The objective of this scheme is to make early learning in a formal setting available to eligible children in the year before they commence primary school. I understand that certain flexibilities are built into the scheme in an effort to accommodate children with special needs, such as an overage exemption, or waiver, for children with special needs who do not meet the age criteria and the option to avail of the free pre-school year over two years.
While the Health Service Executive has no statutory obligation to provide supports for children with special needs wishing to avail of the free pre-school year, it works at local level and in partnership with the relevant disability service providers to address individual needs as they arise. This is done in a number of ways such as by providing grant-aid to support pre-school provision in community pre-schools and by funding special pre-schools that cater specifically for children with disabilities. In some cases at local level disability services have also facilitated children with disabilities to attend mainstream pre-schools by providing assistant supports where possible.
The HSE’s role in supporting children with disabilities involves it working in close co-operation with the disability service providers that it funds, with the education sector, with the Department of Children and Youth Affairs and with the parents and families of the children in question. However, there is a need to strengthen these arrangements. A dedicated Cross-Sectoral Team, comprising representatives of my Department, the HSE, the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs plays a key role in fostering greater collaboration on children’s disability issues and to build on the cross-sectoral working arrangements that are already in place. A sub group of this Cross-Sectoral Team has been set up to examine the issues around the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream pre-school settings, building on previous analysis in this area. Representatives of the Departments of Health, Children and Youth Affairs, Education and Skills, the Health Service Executive and of the City and County Childcare Committees are members of this group and it is chaired by the Department of Health. The issue of supports for children with disabilities in mainstream pre-school settings is being looked at in this context.
179. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for Health the policy in relation to allocating speech therapy assistance to primary school students; and if the IQ level of the student has any impact on this policy. [5905/14]
View answerHealth related supports and interventions for children who are of primary school age can be accessed through HSE Primary Care Teams and HSE Disability Services. The HSE’s National Service Plan 2013 provided for additional funding of €20m to strengthen primary care services (€18.525m for the recruitment of 264.5 primary care team posts and €1.475m to support Community Intervention Team development). Of the additional 264.5 posts allocated, 47 whole-time equivalent Speech and Language Therapy posts were approved. The recruitment process is ongoing in relation to these posts, with the majority of the posts filled or offered with start dates to be agreed. The HSE is striving to have the remainder of the posts filled as soon as possible in 2014.
I understand that each individual presenting to the HSE's speech and language service has an initial assessment to determine their individual need for therapy. The therapist, in conjunction with the parent(s) or carer, will determine the severity of the individual’s difficulties and prioritise for therapy accordingly. The level of intervention is in line with clinic policy, age and severity of the diagnosis. The waiting period for intervention is dependent on the nature and severity of the disorder following assessment. In an effort to address the issue of waiting lists and ensure that services are delivered in as equitable a manner as possible within available resources, the HSE has introduced a number of initiatives such as therapists increasing clinic based work instead of domiciliary work and providing family centred interventions in a group as opposed to a one-to-one setting, whenever possible.
In the longer term, the reconfiguration of children’s disability services into geographically-based early-intervention and school-aged teams as part of the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People Programme will ensure an equitable delivery of services. The purpose of the reconfiguration of existing therapy resources is to ensure that the resources available are used to best effect, in order to provide health supports and ongoing therapy to all children (0-18 years) in line with their prioritised needs. In particular, it will mean that all children, regardless of where they receive their education services will have equitable access to services based on their needs.
The 2014 budget for Disability Services is being maintained broadly in line with 2013, with targeted investment of €14m for a number of developments, including the roll out of the Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People (0-18) Programme, which will entail the provision of 80 additional therapy posts, to increase services for children with all disabilities. A proportion of these will be Speech and Language Therapy posts.
180. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health if his Department or the Health Service Executive or the Irish Medicines Board has a record of the number of persons who have conditions consistent with the negative side effects following the use of Lariam; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5903/14]
View answerLariam, which contains the active ingredient mefloquine, is one of a range of medicines authorised for use in Ireland and in some 53 countries worldwide for the prevention and treatment of malaria, a life threatening disease from which some 600,000 people die each year.
Since Lariam was first licensed for use in Ireland in 1989, the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) has received 96 reports of suspected adverse reactions in association with its use. The majority of these reactions involve nervous system/psychiatric disorders, which are known effects of the medicine and are described in the approved product information (Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) and Package Leaflet (PL)) for Lariam. These reports describe a range of effects such as depression and associated effects such as agitation, abnormal dreams, insomnia, psychosis and suicidal thoughts. Other reactions reported to the IMB include symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, nausea and diarrhoea, which are also consistent with the known safety profile of Lariam.
The IMB has highlighted information relating to the safety of Lariam on a number of occasions, most recently in the 55th edition of its Drug Safety Newsletter published in June 2013, coinciding with the introduction of supplementary educational materials to support safe use of the product.
181. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he, his Department or the Health Service Executive has received letters requesting extra staff in maternity units over the past three years; the way they were responded to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5915/14]
View answerI can confirm to the Deputy that in the past three years, I have received a small number of representations in relation to staffing in maternity units. The Deputy might however note that over that period, despite our falling birth rates, increased numbers of midwives have been employed in the health service. The number of Staff Midwives employed at the end of 2010 was 1,178 (WTEs). By the end of 2013, the number had increased to 1,341, including 20 recently qualified midwives participating in the Graduate Nursing/Midwifery Programme. This increase reflects the capacity of the HSE to appoint critical front-line staff where it is necessary to do so, notwithstanding overall recruitment constraints.
182. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he has concerns regarding staffing shortages in maternity units across the country; if he is considering lifting the staff embargo in units where staffing is not deemed safe; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5916/14]
View answerThe numbers employed across the public service must be reduced in order to meet the fiscal and budgetary targets we are obliged to meet. In order to mitigate the impact on front-line services of the reduction in employment numbers, the priority is to reform how health services are delivered in order to ensure a more productive and cost effective health system. The additional working hours provided for in the Haddington Road Agreement are a pivotal element in this regard.
It is recognised that certain services such as maternity are demand led and may also require specialist staffing. Arrangements are in place in the HSE to allow the recruitment of such staff where it has been established that there is an urgent service requirement, notwithstanding the overall requirement to reduce staff numbers. The number of Staff Midwives in the health services at the end of 2013 was 1,341 (WTEs) - including 20 recently qualified midwives participating in the Graduate Nursing/Midwifery Programme. This figure is noteworthy, as it shows the manner in which the HSE has the capacity to respond to service needs and to focus recruitment in specific areas where increases are required. It represents a significant increase on the number of Staff Midwives employed at the end of 2010 - 1,178.
183. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he has met the officials involved in the latest reports in Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5917/14]
View answerI have not met with hospital officials in relation to issues which have arisen at the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. However, the Deputy will be aware that I have asked the Chief Medical Officer to provide me with a report on the issues pertaining to the deaths of infants at Portlaoise. Pending finalisation of that report, I am not in a position to make any further comments in the matter. The CMO's report will be completed as expeditiously as possible.
184. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the reason officials did not inform the mother of one of the deceased babies at Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise that they were doing a report between 2009 and 2011; if he has discussed this oversight with the director general of the Health Service Executive; the action being taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5918/14]
View answerI have asked the Chief Medical Officer to review the issues that have arisen in relation to Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. Pending finalisation of that report, I am not in a position to provide the Deputy with the information requested.
185. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health his views on whether the Gardasil HPV vaccination is safe (details supplied); if there is a possibility of side effects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5923/14]
View answerGardasil vaccine has been authorised for use across the European Union since September 2006. It was first introduced into the national immunisation programme in Ireland in 2010 and it is estimated that over 42 million girls and women have been vaccinated worldwide since it was first authorised. While no medicine (including vaccines) is entirely without risk, the safety profile of Gardasil has been continuously monitored since it was first authorised both nationally and at EU level and the balance of benefits and risks of the vaccine remain positive.
National monitoring experience has been consistent with the expected pattern of adverse effects known to occur with the vaccine, as outlined in the approved product information for Gardasil, including injection site reactions, malaise, headache, myalgia, fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms and skin reactions. Vaccination related events such as dizziness and syncope (fainting) were among the most commonly reported effects. The Irish Medicines Board published updates relating to national monitoring experience on its website during the first year of the HPV schools immunisation programme, with additional updates on national monitoring experience included in several editions of its Drug Safety Newsletter.
