Gerry Adams
Question:161. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a breakdown, in tabular form, of home help hours provided in counties Louth and Meath from 2011 to 2015. [32595/15]
View answerHome Help Service Data
Questions (161)
Written answers
As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
Medical Card Reviews
Questions (162)
Gerry Adams
Question:162. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health to set out the number of medical cards that were withdrawn in counties Louth and Meath for the years 2011 to 2015. [32596/15]
View answerWritten answers
The 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 issued to Oireachtas members.
If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office who will follow up the matter with them.
Medical Card Applications
Questions (163)
Gerry Adams
Question:163. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health to set out the number of discretionary medical cards that were issued in counties Louth and Meath for the years 2011 to 2015. [32597/15]
View answerWritten answers
The 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 issued to Oireachtas members.
If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office who will follow up the matter with them.
Nursing Home Services
Questions (164)
Denis Naughten
Question:164. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health further to the reply to Parliamentary Question No. 592 of 16 July 2015, if he will approve capital funding for the Sacred Heart Hospital in Roscommon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32617/15]
View answerWritten answers
It is Government policy to support Older People to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. The case for funding community nursing units has been presented as effectively as possible and we will work with the HSE to prioritise available funding. In this context the safety and welfare of residents is our primary concern.
Talks relating to the national CNU programme including the Sacred Heart Hospital Roscommon are ongoing between the HSE and the regulator HIQA. As with all capital projects further developments of this programme must be considered within the context of the overall capital envelope available to the health service.
Hospital Services
Questions (165)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:165. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health to outline his views on a medical procedure in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32618/15]
View answerWritten answers
As the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, he can contact my Private Office and they will follow the matter up with the HSE.
HIQA Inspections
Questions (166)
John McGuinness
Question:166. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the legal notice issued to the community hospitals in Carlow in August 2015 by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA; the response issued by the Health Service Executive, HSE; if he will explain why HIQA withdrew this notice; if all matters have now been resolved between the hospitals, HIQA and the HSE; if all correspondence and communications between the various parties will be released to this Deputy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32622/15]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
Services for People with Disabilities
Questions (167)
Jack Wall
Question:167. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Health to outline the services available to assist the mental health welfare and education of a child (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32626/15]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service issue this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. If you have not received a response within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
Health Services Provision
Questions (168)
Michael McGrath
Question:168. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Health to detail the amount of money paid by the State in respect of treatment for Irish patients in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom in 2014; the amount received by the Health Service Executive for the treatment of United Kingdom nationals here during the same period; if he expects increased costs for the treatment of Irish patients in the United Kingdom following recent changes to the rules in this regard by the National Health Service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32638/15]
View answerWritten answers
Regulation (EC) 883/2004 and Implementing Regulation 987/2009 provide for the coordination of social security systems, including healthcare, within the EU/EEA and Switzerland. Under these provisions, persons who are insured with (covered by) the healthcare service of one EU member state are entitled to receive healthcare in the public system of another member state in certain circumstances, at the cost of the member state in which they are insured. Such persons may include:
- people who are employed in one member state and resident in another and their dependants,
- pensioners of one member state who reside in another and their dependants,
- visitors to one member state from another, and
- persons referred for treatment to another member state.
The EU Regulations provide for the costs to be reimbursed between member states. The Regulations also allow for two or more states to agree alternative arrangements for reimbursement other than those laid down in the Regulations, or to mutually waive reimbursement altogether.
Ireland's primary interaction has been and continues to be with the United Kingdom with whom it operates a bilateral healthcare reimbursement agreement, covering such persons as temporary visitors between the two countries, pensioners of one country and their dependants residing in the other country, and the dependant families of persons employed in the other country. Under the terms of the agreement net liability between the two countries is calculated on a lump sum basis rather than an individual basis. The amount payable is the net difference between the costs to the Irish health services of providing care to those with only UK entitlements and the cost to the UK health services of providing services to those with only Irish entitlements. The amount payable is agreed following compilation of the necessary data and discussions between the two administrations. Payments are made in advance and are subject to final settlement once all necessary statistical and financial information is complete. Total payments in any one year can as a consequence relate to both final settlements in respect of previous years' liabilities and advance payments in respect of the current and/or previous years. The finalisation of accounts is normally some years in arrears to facilitate collation of relevant statistics and for the approval of the average cost prepared by each country for the year concerned at EU level. The net payment received by Ireland from the United Kingdom in 2014 was €172 m. This amount represents the actual payment made in cash in 2014 and does not correspond to the full liability for that particular year.
As explained in the following paragraph, only a small portion of the payments outlined relate to UK visitors to Ireland and Irish visitors to the UK. By far the largest part of the payment received from the UK authorities on an annual basis relates to the provision of healthcare to UK pensioners and their dependants residing in Ireland. Entirely separate arrangements apply to patient referrals for scheduled treatment in the other jurisdiction whereby the costs arising are reimbursed on an actual costs basis. These arrangements are administered by the Health Service Executive.
The amount payable in any one year attributable to temporary visitors between Ireland and the UK (i.e. EHIC type costs) is determined by the estimated number of visitor days and an estimate of the average cost of providing healthcare treatment. The last accounts finalised were in respect of the year 2008 in respect of which Ireland’s liability to the United Kingdom was calculated at Stg £10,161,467 (€12,269,340 approximately) for 22,945,700 visitor days (Ireland to UK) and the United Kingdom liability to Ireland was €17,735,993 for 19,095,600 visitor days (UK to Ireland). Accounts for subsequent years have not yet been finalised. However visitor days for the year 2014 have been estimated as follows:
Estimated Visitor Days in 000s
|
Year |
2014 |
|
Visitor days Ireland to UK |
15,503 |
|
Visitor days UK to Ireland |
14,657 |
There are no proposals to change these arrangements.
I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland
Questions (169, 170)
Catherine Murphy
Question:169. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the current funding to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland; the current staff complement; the proportion by which each category has changed over the past five years; his plans to provide additional resources to assist the board in tackling the large backlog of registration applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32648/15]
View answerCatherine Murphy
Question:170. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he will indicate what the current average waiting time is, in weeks, for the processing of registration applications at the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland; what representations he has received in respect of tackling the delays which exist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32649/15]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 169 and 170 together.
I want to correct a misapprehension being given regarding applications for Nursing Registration following a number of reps received. The Department continues to hold regular meetings with the NMBI on this matter in order to ensure that progress is being made to reduce such delays.
The Latest figures from the NMBI indicate that there are 2,260 open applications, of which:
- 1,383 have documentation outstanding (61%);
- Registration decision letters have issued in 263 cases from 1 July to 23 September 2015;
- 38 have been approved and a fee is awaited by the NMBI; and
- 181 are waiting review.
The applications that have been submitted with incomplete documentation (61%) cannot be processed until full documentation has been supplied. For this reason a new helpline is being set up to assist people with their applications and deal with registration queries. An upgraded website is also being developed. The Department has approved the filling of 16 posts.
With regard to the current average waiting times, this is an operational matter and it is appropriate that they should be dealt with by the NMBI. I have referred your questions to the NMBI for attention and direct reply in relation to these matters.
If you have not received a reply from the NMBI within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.