Written Answers Nos. 110-115
110. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the value of capital investment projects and grants under way or approved for funding by his Department, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39651/15]
View answerMy Department has a resource allocation of €22.614 million in 2015 to support capital developments across a range of programmes and services that includes:
- General Childcare Programmes - €8.250 million
- Youth Organisations and Services - €0.750 million
- National Children’s Detention Facility - €13.614 million
The amounts approved for funding from the overall resource allocation amounts to €22.6 million leaving a balance of €0.014 million. Details of the allocation on a County basis are set out in the following table:
|
County |
Amount |
|
CARLOW |
€412,368 |
|
CAVAN |
€56,610 |
|
CLARE |
€153,035 |
|
CORK |
€515,786 |
|
DONEGAL |
€842,189 |
|
DUBLIN |
€15,495,724 |
|
GALWAY |
€544,769 |
|
KERRY |
€305,936 |
|
KILDARE |
€157,950 |
|
KILKENNY |
€335,087 |
|
LAOIS |
€143,104 |
|
LEITRIM |
€217,218 |
|
LIMERICK |
€680,757 |
|
LONGFORD |
€106,058 |
|
LOUTH |
€152,068 |
|
MAYO |
€499,291 |
|
MEATH |
€185,733 |
|
MONAGHAN |
€204,213 |
|
OFFALY |
€93,699 |
|
ROSCOMMON |
€120,468 |
|
SLIGO |
€178,148 |
|
TIPPERARY |
€167,847 |
|
WATERFORD |
€159,952 |
|
WESTMEATH |
€193,693 |
|
WEXFORD |
€114,736 |
|
WICKLOW |
€193,932 |
|
Total |
€22,230,372 |
|
Other (National) |
370,000 |
|
Grand Total |
22,600,372 |
In addition, the Deputy might note that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, also has a capital allocation of €12.386 million at its disposal for 2015. I am informed by Tusla that the amounts currently approved for funding from its resource allocation are as follows:
|
County |
Amount |
|
Dublin |
€5,390,826 |
|
Other(National) |
€3,630,000 |
|
Grand Total |
€9,020,826 |
The balance of funds remains to be allocated by Tusla.
111. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will consider extending availability to the free preschool year, as announced in budget 2016, to children born up to the end of August 2012, thereby facilitating their attendance at preschool from September 2015, given that this day coincides with the commencement of the school year after the summer vacation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39761/15]
View answerAt present, children qualify for the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme when they are within the qualifying age range which is 3 years and 2 months to 4 years and 7 months in the September of the relevant year. This means, for example, that children born between 2 February 2011 and 30 June 2012 qualified for free pre-school from September 2015. Children whose third birthday is on or after 1 July 2012 are below the age range for eligibility for ECCE in the 2015/2016 programme year but will qualify for the 2016/17 programme year.
The recent Budget decisions, which introduced an extended provision under the ECCE programme that allows children to access the free pre-school programme from the time they are 3 years of age until they start primary school, come into effect from September 2016. This extended provision, when fully rolled out, will mean that children will have access to free education - either in pre-school or primary school - from the age of three. The start up date for the introduction of this new measure was decided so as to allow pre-school providers an adequate timeframe to make any necessary infrastructural or service changes and to put in place extra staff resources to accommodate the additional numbers benefiting from the programme, which is estimated to increase from 67,000 to 127,000 in a given programme year.
I am conscious that, depending on their date of birth, some children enrolling in the ECCE programme in September 2016 will not benefit from this extended free pre-school provision. I am also aware that, when the programme is fully in place (i.e. from 2017), there will be some children who will benefit for a shorter extra period of free pre-school than others. Again, this will depend on the child's date of birth and the age at which they make the transition to primary school. Ultimately however, when this extended programme is fully in place, all children will be better off than in the present programme. Indeed, the net effect of the improvements for children overall will be an increase of an average of 23 weeks over the current programme. I think that this is a significant step forward for children and their families.
112. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Health the status of an application for a medical card by persons (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [39636/15]
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.
113. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Health when a decision will be made on an application for a medical card for persons (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39643/15]
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.
114. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Health the value of capital investment projects and grants under way or approved for funding by his Department, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39658/15]
View answerIn late September the Government announced the national capital envelope for the multi-annual period 2016-2021. The notified health capital envelope for this period is €3,061 million which includes an increase of €568 million. The following table shows the annual allocation.
|
Multi-annual period |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
Total |
|
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
€m |
|
|
Health capital envelope |
414 |
454 |
473 |
550 |
570 |
600 |
3,061 |
These figures include an annual €15 million allocated to support my Department's internal ICT and equipping needs (circa €0.473 million annually) and the smaller statutory bodies under its aegis. Bodies such as the Health Research Board (HRB), the Health Information and Quality Authority, National Cancer Registry Ireland and CORU have national rather than county remits.
The HSE has been allocated €2,971 million, including the increase of €568 million, for its health facility construction and equipping and its Information and Communications Technology programmes.
In the context of this announcement the HSE is working on its next multi-annual Capital Plan 2016-2021 which, from a good practice perspective, must involve a review of all projects. This Plan requires my approval together with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. It will include a schedule of projects to be delivered. The HSE will publish this schedule on its website when it has been approved.
The need for technology investment in our health service has been set out in the Government's eHealth strategy for Ireland document published in 2013. Investment in ICT including core infrastructure, a new financial operating model and electronic patient systems will help modernise the delivery of patient centred care and deliver timely and integrated information underpinning service delivery and decision making at all levels in the health system. This extended six year period will support technology modernisation and investment which is essential in underpinning patient safety and greater efficiency in care delivery and supporting health reform including activity based funding.
Increased funding becomes available in the later years and therefore there is potential scope for additional investment concentrated towards the end of the period.
115. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health the status of the introduction of a dedicated programme of investment for persons with an acquired brain injury to implement the current neuro-rehabilitation policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39667/15]
View answerAs 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.
