Written Answers Nos. 558-581
558. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health if five additional beds allocated to Monaghan Hospital in 2013 have been opened yet; if not, the reason for this; his plans for additional allocation of beds to ease pressure on Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Cavan General Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19586/16]
View answerAs 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.
560. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton asked the Minister for Health if adequate funding will be provided to support personal assistant services in the west of Ireland whereby a person (details supplied) on a prioritised waiting list will be facilitated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19608/16]
View answerThe Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. This commitment is outlined in the Programme for Partnership Government, which is guided by two principles: equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.
In the 2016 National Service Plan, the Health Service Executive's (HSE's) priority is to protect the level of services provided in 2015 and to provide 1.3 million hours of Personal Assistant services and 2.6 million hours of Home Support to over 2,000 adults with a disability.
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, she can contact my Private Office and they will follow the matter up with the HSE.
561. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the number of staff employed in his Department's archive unit in each of the years 2010 to 2016 to date, in tabular form; his plans to expand this number; if there are protocol changes arising from changes to the National Archive Acts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19618/16]
View answerMy Department does not have an Archive Unit but there is a Records Management Unit which among other duties has a role and responsibility for the archiving of Departmental files. The Records Management Unit had 5 members of staff in 2010 and has 6 members of staff since 2011. There are no immediate plans to increase this number of staff and there are no changes required at present to the Department's record management protocol as a result of changes to the National Archives Act.
562. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Health the number of home help hours allocated under the home care package in each of the years 2008 to 2016 to date, in tabular form. [19627/16]
View answer564. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Health the number of home help hours allocated to recipients of intensive home care packages in each of the years 2014 to 2015 and the estimate for 2016. [19630/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 562 and 564 together.
As these are service matters they have 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.
563. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that funding for the home care package has been fully allocated in County Limerick since April 2016; if and when he will provide extra funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19628/16]
View answerThe HSE’s National Service Plan for 2016 provides for a target of 10.4 million Home Help Hours to support about 47,800 people. It also provides for 15,450 Home Care Packages and 130 Intensive Home Care Packages for clients with complex needs. A further 60 clients with dementia will be supported with co-funding from Atlantic Philanthropies under the Irish National Dementia Strategy.
Home support services across the country are being stretched by demands from more people, and for more hours at times outside of core hours, in the evenings and at weekends, all of which cost more. Activity in quarter 1 of 2016 was ahead of the same period last year as efforts continued to alleviate pressure on the acute hospital system.
I am delighted that the Government has been able to respond to this demand by providing an extra €40m for home care in 2016. This will ensure that the home support services provided in 2015 are maintained and that the rate of service allocation can be maintained during the summer months. €10m of this money has been ring fenced for home care as part of the new winter initiative. The targets for 2016 will be reviewed in light of these additional resources.
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.
565. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive an appointment at the Dublin Dental Hospital to start a procedure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19634/16]
View answerThe Dublin Dental Hospital is governed by a Board, established by Statutory Instrument (S.I. No. 129 of 1963) under the Health (Corporate Bodies) Act 1961. The Minister has no role in the setting of appointments by Dublin Dental Hospital. In line with the Hospital's standard procedures I understand that the patient will be contacted by the hospital shortly to offer him an appointment.
567. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Health when it is expected that the design stage will commence for the new build of St. Patrick's Hospital in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19645/16]
View answerYour question has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply as the delivery of health care infrastructure is a service matter. If you do not receive a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office who will follow up on the matter.
568. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will review or has reviewed the current system of fitting and refitting wheelchairs for persons; if he is aware that for a person in County Kerry to get refitted or fitted with a wheelchair this could take months, even years, as the company involved only comes to service County Kerry for one or two days in a whole month which means many persons are left in chairs unsuitable for their current needs or simply without a chair; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19678/16]
View answerAs 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 up the matter with them.
569. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will review the case of a person (details supplied) who has a lifelong condition that will never improve and was awarded a medical card in October 2015 but who has now had that medical card taken away and was only awarded a general practitioner visit card. [19679/16]
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 recently 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.
570. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Health when the interdepartmental group will report following submissions by farming organisations regarding the fair deal scheme: its progress to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19701/16]
View answer571. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the number of meetings the interdepartmental agency group set up to oversee the implementation of recommendations contained in the review of the nursing home support scheme has held; the dates of the meetings; if and when it will afford the IFA an opportunity to make an oral presentation to the group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19708/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 570 and 571 together.
When the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) commenced in 2009, a commitment was made that it would be reviewed after three years. The Report of the Review was published in July 2015. Arising out of the Review, a number of key issues have been identified for more detailed consideration across Departments and Agencies, including the treatment of business and farm assets for the purposes of the financial assessment element of the Scheme. In advance of the Review, submissions were sought from groups or bodies who wished to make a contribution, and the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) made a submission in this context on which they expanded at a subsequent meeting with officials of the Department of Health.
The Interdepartmental/Agency Working Group set up to progress the recommendations contained in the Review of the NHSS has held four meetings to date. These meetings took place on 1st December 2015; 26th January 2016; 5th April 2016 and 15th June 2016. This Working Group will consider the submission already made by the IFA, and will be in touch with the IFA at that point with regard to any clarifications or additional information that may be helpful.
The Programme for a Partnership Government has committed to reviewing the NHSS to remove any discrimination against small business and family farms.
572. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Health the number of consultant psychiatrist vacancies within the child and adult mental health services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19724/16]
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.
573. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health his discussions regarding the charity Console and the funding it received; if he has asked the Health Service Executive or his Department to audit the funding given; the safeguard provisions he is putting in place for the services provided by this charity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19731/16]
View answerConsole is one of the charities part-funded through the HSE’s National Office for Suicide Prevention, to provide counselling, therapy and support services to people who have been bereaved by suicide. The National Office for Suicide Prevention funds over 40 individual organisations (including Console) and co-ordinates suicide prevention initiatives around the country.
Funding of €625,000 (approximately) was provided to Console in 2015 through the National Office for Suicide Prevention. Funding for previous years was as follows:
2011 - €239,522
2012 - €252,114
2013 - €598,557
2014 - €855,227
2015 - €622,204.
The HSE National Office for Suicide Prevention funded Console €53,583 each month for the first six months of 2016. This funding was for their Counselling Services, Helpline and their Family Liaison Bereavement Service.
In addition, lottery funding of €50,000 and €75,000 was provided to Console by the Department of Health in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Console also raises a substantial amount of funding through charitable and private sources.
As the internal audit is now completed, the HSE is presently considering the most appropriate line of action following the recent response of the Agency to the audit findings. All communications with Console continue to be conducted by the HSE according to proper audit processes, and having regard to appropriate legal procedures. In addition, the Charities Regulatory Authority and the UK Charities Regulator are both engaging with Console arising from the findings of the HSE audit. In addition, the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement and the Garda Síochána are also engaged with the Agency as a result of these findings. Finally, two independent experts have been appointed by Console arising from the findings of the audit conveyed to the agency.
I am aware of the importance of the services provided by Console, and the importance of ensuring that these are not impacted by the on-going issues. These services continue to be available, including the Freefone 24/7 Helpline. The HSE is in contact with the two independent experts appointed by Console, and the Executive is also considering alternative arrangements for services provided by the agency, if this is deemed necessary. Consideration by the HSE of alternative service options has been underway in parallel with the audit process. Mr John Farrelly, the CEO of the Charities Regulator has appointed additional trustees to Console to govern the charity through this time.
574. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the status of an application for lottery funding by the Health Service Executive in respect of an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19813/16]
View answerMy Department has received an application for funding from the 2016 National Lottery allocation from the organisation in question. This is among a large number of applications currently being assessed. The organisation will be informed of the outcome of the application as soon as a decision has been made.
575. Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the immediate contingency steps he will take to safeguard the interests of the Irish fishing sector following the decision by United Kingdom voters to leave the European Union in its recent referendum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19304/16]
View answer576. Deputy Pat The Cope Gallagher asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the likely effect on the Common Fisheries Policy, and the effect this will have on total allowable catches and quotas, following the decision by United Kingdom voters to leave the European Union in its recent referendum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19305/16]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 575 and 576 together.
Negotiations on the future relationship between the EU and the UK may not commence for some time yet, and will take a considerable amount of time to complete - at least 2 years and maybe longer.
With regard to the implications for the Common Fisheries Policy and the Irish fishing sector it is simply too early to be clear as to what might or might not change and what the implications for Ireland may be. The UK has not yet initiated the formal withdrawal process and may not do so for some time. In consequence, it is very unclear what changes the UK may seek to negotiate in the realm of fisheries.
Within my Department, I have ensured that my officials have been examining all potential implications across a range of very complex issues in fisheries. Unlike other sectors, when it comes to fish stocks, we share and exploit many of the same resources as the UK and must manage those resources within a coastal states framework – whatever the formal relationship. In addition, there are reciprocal access rights for Irish and Northern Irish vessels in each other's inshore waters that benefit both.
Since 1983, the fish stocks in the waters around both Ireland and the UK have been managed within the EU under the Common Fisheries Policy. That policy is a complicated construction and none of its interlinked elements can be considered separately, as different agreements have been made over many years of developing the policy.
These and all of the other issues in fisheries and all of the other agrifood sectors are being carefully examined by my Department. Specifically on fisheries, my Department has already held an information seminar with industry and other stakeholders. In addition, later this week I am convening a meeting of key sectoral representatives across all agri-food sectors, including fisheries. The purpose of this consultative committee will be to provide a consultative forum on issues arising from Brexit – many of which will be common to all sectors- as negotiations begin and develop.
From an Irish perspective I will be doing my utmost to ensure that any settlement does not come at a cost to Irelands' fishing communities and that our interests are fully protected within the EU. I hope that the EU and the UK act in concert as good neighbours to continue to protect the long term sustainability of our stocks, our fishing industries and the coastal communities dependant on them.
577. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application for funding by a person (details supplied) under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme II; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19093/16]
View answerThe person concerned is an applicant under the TAMS II Young Farmers Capital Investment Scheme. The application is currently being processed and once it has been determined that all the terms and conditions of the Scheme have been complied with a letter of approval to carry out the works will issue.
578. Deputy Ciarán Cannon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason a number of farm payments to a person (details supplied) have been withheld. [19102/16]
View answerAs the matter referred to is the subject of legal proceedings, no comment can be made on the issue.
579. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a case (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19117/16]
View answerThe Basic Payment Scheme and Greening Payment replaced the Single Payment Scheme at the end of 2014 and a new set of BPS entitlements has been allocated to all eligible applicants under the scheme. The number of BPS entitlements allocated was determined by the number of eligible hectares declared by a farmer in 2013 or 2015, whichever was the lesser, and the value of entitlements allocated was based on a fixed percentage of the value of Single Payment Scheme entitlements owned by the farmer in 2014 and any payment received under the 2014 Grassland Sheep Scheme.
The person named declared 14.28 eligible hectares in 2013 and 16.39 eligible hectares in 2015. He was therefore allocated 14.28 entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme on the basis of the 2013 versus 2015 rule. The value of the payment received by the person named in 2015 shows a marginal reduction on the value of his payment in 2014. This is consistent with the marginal reduction to all farmers’ payments in 2015 based on the reduced national ceiling allocated to Ireland under CAP 2015-2019. The value of the entitlements held by the person named will increase under convergence each year from 2015-2019 as set out in the Definitive Statement of Entitlements issued to the person named in early June 2016.
580. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the cereal targeted agricultural modernisation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19141/16]
View answerMy Department has no record of an application lodged from the person concerned under any of the TAMS II Schemes to date.
581. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under tier 3 of the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19147/16]
View answerAn application for Tranche 2 of the GLAS Scheme for the persons named was received on the dedicated GLAS online system on the 3 December 2015. The unprecedented level of applications to the Scheme has meant that for GLAS 2, priority is being given to what are called Tier 1 and Tier 2 candidates, i.e. those who either manage key environmental assets like endangered birds, protected habitats or high-quality water courses, or who have committed to undertake particularly valuable environmental actions like growing feed-crops for wild birds, adopting low-impact tillage techniques or using low-emission slurry spreading methods.
Farmers had been urged to present the highest standard environmental plans under GLAS 2, and to adopt actions that would promote them from Tier 3 to a higher tier, thereby significantly increasing the chance of selection. Over 80% of applicants in this second tranche of GLAS opted to do so, and with the funding available were approved.
As the application by the persons named was ranked as a Tier 3 application it was not selected into the scheme and the persons named were notified of the outcome in writing on the 10 March 2016.
A third tranche of GLAS (GLAS 3) will open later this year and the persons named and any applicant who was unsuccessful in the second tranche will have the opportunity now to re-examine their proposed farm-plan, in consultation with their advisor, and see how it might be improved to increase their chance of selection under GLAS 3 and to submit a new application for GLAS 3 when the scheme is opened.
An official from my Department will contact the persons named directly.
