Written Answers Nos. 192 - 203
192. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an operation in Cappagh Hospital for a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33818/15]
View answerUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.
The National Waiting List Management Policy, A standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, January 2014, has been developed to ensure that all administrative, managerial and clinical staff follow an agreed national minimum standard for the management and administration of waiting lists for scheduled care. This policy, which has been adopted by the Health Service Executive, sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists.
In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
193. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Health what services will be provided for a person (details supplied) in Dublin 22 who has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum and who is currently attending the final year in school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33820/15]
View answerEach Local Health Office area in the Health Service Executive (HSE) has a dedicated Disability Manager to coordinate the delivery of services to people with disabilities. It is open to the individual and their family to pursue this matter with the Disability Manager for their area who can be contacted at Cherry Orchard Hospital, Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, telephone 01-6206072.
As the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the 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.
194. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will provide, in tabular form, the additional number of vehicles which the national ambulance service has taken on in 2015, indicating the different types of vehicle, such as patient-carrying ambulances, rapid response vehicles, etc.; the expenditure on each type of vehicle and the number of each; and the number of such vehicles that the service has decommissioned in 2015 to date. [33823/15]
View answerThe Deputy may wish to note that the National Ambulance Service (NAS) operates its fleet in line with the requirements of CEN 1789, the European Union standard for ambulances. The NAS has a fleet of over 520 vehicles which travel over twenty million km each year. Fleet management policies in place, minimise, as far as possible, the potential for vehicle failure. Daily vehicle inspections are carried out by ambulance crews, and a defect logging system is in place. Replacement of stock within the fleet runs at up to 15% a year and, in 2015, 62 new ambulances will be added to the fleet, at a cost of €7.5m. The NAS adheres to vehicle manufacturer’s specifications for service schedules and intervals. In line with current manufacturer and warranty requirements, each manufacturer’s main dealer network carries out the majority of heavy maintenance work.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
195. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health whether a psychological assessment has been sought by or made available to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33889/15]
View answerAs this is a service issue this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. If you have not received a reply within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
196. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health if and when a medical card will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33890/15]
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 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.
197. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has plans to meet the Secretary of State of the United States of America, Mr. John Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33658/15]
View answerToday is the final day of my five-day visit to the United States, with my programme including US-specific contacts as well as engagements related to the United Nations General Assembly.
Contacts with US authorities throughout the visit have been extensive. As part of my UN programme, I participated at a number of engagements and discussions hosted by President Obama and had an opportunity to speak with the President. Yesterday I visited Washington where I met a cross-section of leading Democratic and Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill and briefed the friends of Ireland on the talks process in Northern Ireland. My focus in these meetings has been on Northern Ireland and on immigration reform. Later today I will meet with Assistant Secretary of State, Ms. Victoria Nuland.
I, my Department and our Embassy in Washington have ongoing and regular contacts with the US Department of State on a variety of issues. In particular, following my meeting with Secretary of State Kerry last year, he appointed former US Senator Gary Hart as his personal representative to Northern Ireland.
Secretary Kerry and Senator Hart have been hugely valuable partners to all participants at Northern Ireland talks, both last year in the lead-up to the Stormont House Agreement and this year during the current talks process.
198. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will clarify the number of Irish embassies currently without an ambassador; the length of time each post has been vacant; when he will fill these vital posts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33659/15]
View answerFrom this month there will be no vacancies at Ambassadorial level. Ambassadors appointed to Cairo, Ljubljana and Lusaka are currently in the process of assuming duty.
The Head of Mission post in Cairo, Egypt has been vacant since the end of April. The Ambassador designate to Egypt, Mr. Damien Cole, has already made a number of visits to Cairo and an initial round of calls. He will formally take up duty within the fortnight. The former Ambassador, Isolde Moylan, retired from her post in early May and in the interim the Deputy Head of Mission, Cormac Gallagher, has been Chargé d’Affaires. The Head of Mission post in Ljubljana, Slovenia has been vacant since early September and our Ambassador-designate, Mr. Seán O’Regan, will take up duty there next week. The Head of Mission post in Lusaka, Zambia has been vacant since the end of August and our Ambassador-designate, Mr. Seamus O’Grady, will take up duty in mid-October.
In the interim, all three Missions are currently being headed by the respective Deputy Heads of Mission acting as Chargés d’Affaires, in line with the usual practice.
199. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has consulted with his counterparts in Northern Ireland regarding the ongoing and very serious issues in Maghaberry Prison, including the frequent use of the discipline alarm, in spite of a prison ombudsman recommendation that the alarm not be used except in extreme circumstances; allegations that cell bells have been silenced from a central control location, resulting in prisoners not being able to alert staff if they are in distress while in their cells; allegations that closed circuit television footage has been destroyed by senior staff; and the refusal of prison governors to accept complaints in typewritten format. [33675/15]
View answerPrison issues in Northern Ireland, in particular those affecting prisoners in separated accommodation, regularly feature in my discussions with Northern Ireland Minister of Justice, David Ford, MLA, and, on non-devolved matters, with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers, MP.
In those contacts and those of my officials with officials from the Northern Ireland Department of Justice, our strong emphasis is on the importance of building trust between separated prisoners and prison management in Maghaberry Prison. This includes progress on the issues highlighted by the Deputy, which my officials have raised with the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
I welcome the appointment of a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross as the agreed independent chair of the Maghaberry prison forum. He has been working with both the prisoners and the staff side to agree an agenda. The development of the prison forum has the potential to address many of the issues which have caused friction between staff and prisoners.
Officials have been in touch with the chair since he commenced his work and will continue to do so.
I will be meeting Minister Ford as the Stormont talks continue and will reiterate my concerns regarding Maghaberry.
200. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his position on Catalan independence from the Spanish state. [33864/15]
View answerThe position of the Irish Government is that arrangements for the governance of any EU Member State are a matter for determination by the Member State concerned. Hence, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on such matters in any particular Member State of the European Union.
201. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the decision of the Israeli Government to relax rules on its police and army using live ammunition against stone throwers in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33865/15]
View answerI have expressed for some time my concern about the growing recourse to the use of live ammunition by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, and the steady toll of Palestinian fatalities resulting from this.
I have raised this point at EU level, and we have also made it directly to the Israeli authorities and will continue to do so.
202. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the United Nations new sustainable development goals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33866/15]
View answerThe 17 Sustainable development Goals (SDGs) are at the heart of the new development framework adopted by global leaders at last weekend’s UN Summit in New York. The Summit saw the largest number of heads of state and government in the history of the UN gather to adopt the new framework, the 2030 Agenda, which will guide the actions of all countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger and achieve sustainable development over the next fifteen years.
The Taoiseach led the Irish delegation on the opening day of the Summit and President Higgins and my colleague Minister of State Sherlock also participated.
Ireland led by Ambassador David Donoghue and Kenya co-facilitated the final phase of negotiations to agree this new development framework and succeeded in brokering consensus among all 193 Member States of the UN on this wide ranging global agenda. Last week was a proud moment for Ireland and our achievement in helping deliver this historic agreement was widely acknowledged.
The 2030 Agenda is the second of three major agreements that will be concluded this year and which, taken together, have the potential to deliver a truly transformative agenda that can end poverty and promote sustainable development. The first of these is the Addis Ababa Accord on the means of implementing the new SDGs which was agreed in July, and the third, the climate agreement, should be concluded in Paris in December.
The new SDGs are challenging and ambitious but we have been heartened by the level of commitment to their implementation expressed by global political leaders at last weekend’s Summit. The Taoiseach emphasised the importance Ireland attaches to these new goals and to their implementation.
I am determined that Ireland’s aid programme which is central to our foreign policy will continue to focus on ending poverty in the poorest countries in the world. The SDGs are universally applicable and all countries will have to take action. Like our EU partners, we will now focus on developing the most appropriate institutional framework to deliver the 2030 Agenda at home and abroad.
203. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the proposals he has to reach 0.7% gross national product as overseas development aid funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33916/15]
View answerThe Government is strongly committed to Ireland’s overseas aid programme, which is at the heart of our foreign policy. “One World, One Future” our policy for international development, sets out our vision for a sustainable and just world, and reaffirms our commitment to the UN target of providing 0.7% of Gross National Product (GNP) on Official Development Assistance (ODA). We have stated clearly that we intend to make further progress on this commitment as our economic recovery consolidates. The Taoiseach repeated the commitment when he addressed the United Nations in New York last week at the Summit to adopt the new framework for global development, the 2030 Agenda. Ireland played an important role in ensuring that the EU recommitted to achieving the 0.7% target within the timeframe of the 2030 Agenda.
Over the lifetime of this Government, despite the severe economic difficulty we have faced, we have successfully managed to stabilise allocations to the aid programme. Since coming to office we have allocated in excess of €3 billion for Ireland’s Official Development Assistance programme.
We are currently at an advanced stage of the 2016 Estimates process. While final allocations for Budget 2016 are ultimately a matter for Government, I can assure the Deputy that I am making the strongest possible case for an increase in the allocation to Official Development Assistance.
