Written Answers Nos. 181-200
181. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Social Protection the amount spent during 2016 by his Department, and by each named public body under his Department’s remit, on legal services, by reference to each firm or individual engaged in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8046/17]
View answerIt is not possible to provide the information within the timeframe required. The information requested by the Deputy is being compiled by my officials and will be sent to the Deputy when it is finalised.
182. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the amount spent during 2016 by his Department, and by each named public body under his Department’s remit, on legal services, by reference to each firm or individual engaged in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8041/17]
View answerMy Department generally seeks advice on legal matters from the Office of the Attorney General, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office and the Department’s own Legal Division.
In particular, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office provides legal advice in relation to commercial contracts and public procurement matters. The Department has not engaged external private sector legal advice on these matters for 2016.
Depending on the subject-matter, litigation, including before the Court of Justice of the European Union, is dealt with on my Department’s behalf by the Attorney General’s Office, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office or the State Claims Agency which engage external lawyers to act for the Department where necessary, including for personal injuries claims and other matters. At the international level, my Department, working closely with the Office of the Attorney General, acts as agent for the Government in relation to legal proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights and other international legal courts and bodies. The costs of any external lawyers engaged for litigation are not charged to my Department’s Votes.
The Department’s Missions abroad engage local legal advisers from time to time to deal with a range of miscellaneous matters.
183. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department or the Office of Government Procurement has a policy on contractors seeking add-ons associated with large public capital building projects; the amount paid out in respect of such add ons in the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7795/17]
View answerThe Department of Public Expenditure and Reform allocates capital funding between Departments/sectors, on a multi-annual basis, based on the Government's capital plan. Responsibility for selecting the individual projects to be funded within the various Departmental/sectorial allocations is then a matter for the relevant individual Minister to decide, based on their priorities for the sector (and subject to agreement by Government, where necessary).
Capital expenditure is sanctioned through the line Departments or bodies given a delegated sanctioning role by those Departments. These 'sanctioning authorities' are responsible for monitoring the projects and dealing with cost overruns that arise within their capital sanctions. The Public Spending Code published by my Department sets out the principles which apply in relation to project appraisal, value for money etc., and which continue to apply throughout the implementation phase.
The Office of Government Procurement (OGP) has responsibility for the procurement of common goods and services on behalf of the public sector and for public procurement policy generally which includes construction procurement policy. With the exception of the recently established Framework Agreement for the Provision of Rapid Delivery Housing, the OGP does not centrally procure construction projects.
A project must complete the review stages set out in the Public Spending Code before sanction is given to go out to tender. At each review stage the project is evaluated to ensure it continues to meet its objectives, the budget is reviewed and adjustments undertaken as necessary. Once tenders are received the sanctioning authority must review the tender report and give permission for a contract to be awarded with an established construction budget. It is a matter for the contracting authority who has awarded the contract to manage its performance thereafter and report on budgetary matters to the capital sanctioning authority concerned. The extent of cost increases on individual capital projects is a matter for each sanctioning authority and the details are not held centrally.
All public works projects that are delivered under the Exchequer-funded element of the Government's capital plan must be procured in accordance with the provisions laid down in the Capital Works Management Framework (CWMF). The CWMF is mandated by circular and was developed to provide an integrated set of contractual provisions, guidance material, technical templates and procedures which cover all aspects of the delivery process of a public works project from inception to final project delivery and review. The structure of this strategic framework compliments the Public Spending Code.
A central pillar to the successful outcome of a construction project is a clearly defined set of contract conditions. The standard public works contract which must be used without amendment (unless otherwise sanctioned) is a lump sum, fixed-price contract and includes, amongst other important elements, a set of tightly defined circumstances where the contract sum and the project's completion date may be adjusted. It is a general principle that public works projects are put out to tender on the basis of a comprehensively defined set of project requirements so that tenderers can provide a lump sum price for the completion of the project.
Notwithstanding that, the conditions of construction contracts must make provision for change after the contract is awarded whether that is due to unforeseen circumstances or brought about by a change in the contracting authority's requirements. Careful management pre-procurement is required to ensure that neither scenario arises since changes are disruptive and costly in the construction phase. Public procurement law also recognises both eventualities and Article 72 of the EU 2014 Procurement Directives sets limits for both types of changes. Where these limits are exceeded a new procurement process is required.
184. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the estimated net fiscal space available per annum in 2018 to 2022, inclusive, after all spending committed to date is factored into account; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7946/17]
View answerEstimates of fiscal space for the period 2018 to 2021 can be found in Table A7 Annex 2 of the Budget 2017 book. As the Deputy is aware, there are many individual economic and fiscal variables and other parameters involved in the computation of fiscal space, all of which are subject to change. Consequently, the information on projected fiscal space contained in the Budget book should be treated with the same caution as any forecast of a specific economic or fiscal indicator.
For the Deputy's convenience, the net fiscal space for the period 2018 to 2021 is set out in the following table.
|
€bn |
2018 |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
Total |
|
Net Fiscal Space |
1.2 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
9.3 |
Estimates for projected fiscal space have yet to be prepared for 2022.
Table 1.1 on Page 2 of the Mid-year Expenditure Report for 2016, outlines the indicative allocation of available net fiscal space for the period to 2021. For 2018 the allocation of this space is expected to be divided as follows:
- to €0.39bn for tax measures;
- €0.6bn for current expenditure measures and
- €0.5bn for capital expenditure measures (€0.19bn of fiscal space corresponds to €0.5bn of capital expenditure).
Expenditure Report 2017 sets out Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings for the period 2017 to 2019 and outlines the resources to be allocated in 2018 and 2019.
As outlined in Table 9 on Page 36 of Expenditure Report 2017, the carryover impact of Budget 2017 measures will have an additional cost in 2018 of approximately €0.4bn. This arises to be funded by reprioritisation of expenditure, for example under the Spending Review, or from the unallocated resources for 2018.
Finally, the Deputy may wish to note that it is estimated that in 2018 and 2019 an additional €0.3bn and €0.4bn respectively will be required over and above the Ministerial Expenditure Capital Ceilings published at Budget 2017 for the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Planning to fund capital investment measures under the Action Plan for Housing.
185. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total number of staff in the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer per annum from 2013 to 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7949/17]
View answer186. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total number of persons who have held the position of Government Chief Information Officer per annum from 2013 to 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7950/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 185 and 186 together.
The position of Government Chief Information Officer was established in June 2013. Following this appointment the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform was established in July 2013. The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) replaced the previous Centre for Management and Organisation Development (CMOD). Tim Duggan occupied the post of Head of CMOD/Chief Information Officer with CMOD up to 6 June 2013.
Please see in the following table the names of the holders of Government Chief Information Officer with OGCIO since June 2013, including dates of employment and the dates the position was vacant.
Also provided in the following table, is the headcount of staff within the Office of the Government Chief Information Office as of 31 December for each of the years 2013 to 2016 and to date in 2017.
|
Name |
Dates of Employment |
|
William McCluggage |
10/06/2013 - 15/02/2014 |
|
Position Vacant |
16/02/2014 - 23/03/2014 |
|
Michael McGrath |
24/03/2014 - 23/05/2015 |
|
Position Vacant |
24/05/2015 - 10/04/2016 |
|
Barry Lowry |
11/04/2016 to date |
|
Year |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
|
Headcount at 31st December |
28 |
29 |
34 |
46 |
47 |
187. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount spent during 2016 by his Department, and by each named public body under his Department’s remit, on legal services, by reference to each firm or individual engaged, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8045/17]
View answerIn response to the Deputy's question, the following tables outline the amount spent on legal services by my Department and the bodies under its aegis during 2016. The reply in relation to the Office of Public Works will follow within the next ten days in accordance with Standing Order 42A.
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
|
Firm/individual engaged |
Amount |
|
ByrneWallace Solicitors |
€207,901 |
|
Eversheds |
€394,954 |
Institute of Public Administration (IPA)
|
Firm/individual engaged |
Amount |
|
Purdey Fitzgerald Solicitors |
€450 |
Office of the Ombudsman
|
Firm/individual engaged |
Amount |
|
Matheson |
€3,956 |
|
Brian Foley |
€8,825 |
|
Cyril O'Neill |
€7,470 |
|
Derry Hand |
€984 |
|
Emily Egan |
€8,289 |
|
Fintan Valentine |
€2,214 |
|
Francis Kiernan |
€4,797 |
|
Mason Hayes Curran |
€24,496 |
|
Nuala Butler |
€7,392 |
|
Paul Anthony McDermott |
€6,155 |
|
Peter Fitzpatrick and Company |
€1,722 |
|
Philip Lee and Company |
€89,178 |
|
Shane Murphy |
€615 |
|
A&L Goodbody |
€139,428 |
Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB)
SEUPB is a North South Implementation Body established under the Good Friday Agreement. Its administration costs are funded by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Finance Northern Ireland. The SEUPB is headquartered in Belfast, and the costs were incurred in sterling.
|
Firm/individual engaged |
Amount |
|
EDG Legal |
£3,300* |
*Please note that the above figure represent 100% of the costs, which includes contributions from Ireland and Northern Ireland on a 50:50 basis.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A.
Office of Public Works - Legal Services 2016
|
Supplier |
Amount |
|
A&L Goodbody |
€40,666.59 |
|
Arthur Cox |
€9,937.85 |
|
Beauchamps |
€12,177.00 |
|
Brady & Co Solicitors |
€20,295.00 |
|
David J O'Meara |
€4,059.00 |
|
Downing Courtney & Larkin |
€1,230.00 |
|
McCann Fitzgerald |
€57,789.89 |
|
State Claims Agency |
€233,997.00 |
|
Total |
€380,152.33 |
The Office of Public Works uses the services of the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of the Chief State Solicitor (CSSO) for legal advice. All procurement of external counsel by the CSSO, on behalf of the OPW, is handled by that Office, upon the nomination of the Attorney General.
The costs associated with the provision of advice to the OPW by the Office of the Attorney General and the office of the Chief State Solicitor are borne by their respective Votes.
For areas which the CSSO does not have the necessary capacity and/or specific expertise, the OPW entered into a service level agreement with the CSSO, which negotiates rates with a number of legal firms for the provision of legal advice.
188. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the status of a Leader funding application by a group (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7849/17]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my previous response to his Question No. 379 of 31st January 2017 on this matter .
LEADER funding is delivered through Local Action Groups in each of the 28 LEADER sub-regional areas around the country. The LEADER programme funds projects under three policy themes:
- Economic Development, Enterprise Development and Job Creation
- Social Inclusion, and
- Rural Environment.
In order for a project to be eligible for LEADER funding, it must be compatible with the actions outlined in the approved Local Development Strategy in the sub-regional area concerned, and it must comply with the Operating Rules and EU Regulations in place for the programme.
Funding approvals are a matter for the Local Action Group in the relevant area and I have no function in relation to those matters.
189. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs if there are any consequences for North-South bodies such as Waterways Ireland and more specifically for pension entitlements for existing pensioners or future retirees in view of Brexit. [7921/17]
View answerMy Department co-sponsors two of the six North-South Implementation Bodies established under the Good Friday Agreement, Waterways Ireland and An Foras Teanga/the Language Body.
Brexit creates a range of challenges for North-South Implementation Bodies. As I have previously advised the House, my Department continues to participate in inter-Departmental preparations for Brexit and has established an internal Working Group to address all Brexit related issues affecting the Department and the State Bodies it funds, including the two North South bodies referred to above.
I am advised that, as the North-South Implementation Bodies were established under an Agreement reached between the Governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom which was not dependent on European Community membership, there are unlikely to be implications directly stemming from Brexit for occupational pension entitlements for existing pensioners or future retirees. The implications for State Pension entitlements are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection.
190. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs her plans to review financial supports for writers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7951/17]
View answerUnder the Arts Act 2003, primary responsibility for the promotion and support of the arts, including literature, throughout the country is devolved to the Arts Council.
The Arts Council’s remit for literature includes high-quality poetry, fiction, short fiction, children’s literature, critical writing and some forms of creative non-fiction. The Arts Council’s supports are designed to create the optimum environment for writers to create their best work either through direct support and through partnerships with others.
The strategic context for the Arts Council’s support of literature and all other artforms and areas of arts practice is set out in Making Great Art Work: Arts Council Strategy (2016 –2025). This describes how it will lead the development of the arts in Ireland over the next decade. Its strategy has five priority areas: the artist; public engagement; investment strategy; spatial and demographic planning; and developing capacity.
In Budget 2017, I secured significant additional funding for the Arts Council. This will see an increase in the Arts Council allocation in 2017 of €5m, or 8%, and will assist the Council in implementing its 10-year strategy.
The Deputy may be also aware that writers may benefit under the artists' exemption tax relief (Section 195 Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (TCA 1997). From 2015 and subsequent years the first €50,000 per annum of profits or gains earned by writers, composers, visual artists and sculptors from the sale of their work is exempt from income tax in Ireland in certain circumstances.
I understand that the Revenue Commissioners have made a wide range of statistical information on their Statistics webpage at the following link www.revenue.ie/en/about/statistics/other-datasets.html.
This includes a list of individuals who received a favourable determination under Section 195 Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 during the period 21st April 1998 to 31st December 2001 and from 01 April 2002 to 30 September 2016.
191. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the amount spent during 2016 by her Department, and by each named public body under her Department’s remit, on legal services, by reference to each firm or individual engaged in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8034/17]
View answerI am advised that no expenditure was incurred from my Department's Administrative Budget in respect of external legal services for last year.
For completeness, I would bring to the Deputy's attention that, from time to time, my Department makes payments to the Chief State Solicitor's Office in respect of legal services provided to my Department by that Office.
The requested information in respect of those bodies under the aegis of my Department is set out in the following table.
Summary of External Legal Expenditure 2016
|
Body |
Legal firm/Individual |
Expenditure 2016 |
Total |
|
Arts Council |
Beauchamps O’Leary Maher Solicitors Linda Scales |
€40,015 € 973 € 923 |
€41,911 |
|
Chester Beatty Library |
Arthur Cox |
€ 9,197 |
€ 9,197 |
|
Coimisinéir Teanga |
Antoin Delap Séamus Ó Tuathail A.S. James Bridgeman |
€ 2,030 € 738 € 492 |
€3,260 |
|
Crawford Art Gallery |
OFX Solicitors |
€ 9,515 |
€9,515 |
|
Heritage Council |
A&L Goodbody |
€ 1,819 |
€1,819 |
|
Irish Film Board |
Philip Lee Solicitors Arthur Cox |
€99,235 € 4,788 |
€104,023 |
|
Irish Museum of Modern Art |
Arthur Cox Ivor Fitzpatrick |
€20,742 € 1,300 |
€22,042 |
|
National Concert Hall |
Philip Lee Collins Long |
€24,312 € 688 |
€25,000 |
|
National Gallery of Ireland |
Arthur Cox McCann Fitzgerald Linda Scales Tomkins & Co |
€22,980 €46,028 € 2,620 € 4,078 |
€75,706 |
|
National Library of Ireland |
Beauchamp’s |
€16,044 |
€16,044 |
|
National Museum of Ireland |
Mason Hayes Curran |
€47,090 |
€47,090 |
|
Údarás na Gaeltachta |
Fiachra Breathnach John F Kiely SC Pearts Solicitors National Legal Services Noel J Travers |
€ 1,384 € 1,076 € 179 € 89 € 3,936 |
€6,664 |
|
Western Development Commission |
Purdy Fitzgerald McCann Fitzgerald Beauchamps Lavery Kirby Gilmartin Eugene F. Collins Byrne & Wallace |
€ 799 € 1,599 €24,334 € 8,044 € 9,600 € 3,080 |
€47,456 |
|
Waterways Ireland |
Elliott Duffy Garrett Bryne Wallace Groarke & Partners Mills Selig McDonnell Solicitors VP Mc Mullin Morgan McManus Solrs Doyles & Co. Solicitors State Claims Agency |
€ 2,160 € 8,127 € 1,422 € 1,640 € 1,393 €113,824 € 44,057 € 20 € 8,458 |
€181,101 |
|
Foras Teanga - Foras na Gaeilge |
Antoin Delap Solicitor Michael Flanigan Solicitor |
€ 5,412 € 9,514 |
€14,926 |
|
Foras Teanga - Ulster Scots Agency Note: While this is the total expenditure incurred, only 25% of costs incurred are funded from the Vote of the Department under the funding arrangements pertaining to the Ulster Scots Agency. |
Jones Cassidy Brett Ansons |
Stg£ 5,235 Stg£ 8,812 |
Stg £14,047 |
192. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a hospital appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7771/17]
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 scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. Should a patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he or she should take the matter up with the consultant and the hospital involved. In relation to the specific case raised, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
193. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the number of inpatient theatres, excluding maternity and surgery theatres, across hospital sites; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7776/17]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
194. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the details of the gap that exists between capacity in theatre infrastructure and patient demand in terms of treatments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7777/17]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
195. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health if there is a facility similar to the clinical communications gateway in the health service; if not, if his Department's e-health strategy has considered this, or if it is part of the digital package solution; if he will examine this facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7778/17]
View answerThe Clinical Communications Gateway that the Deputy refers to is a national infrastructure being used in the NHS and Northern Ireland for the electronic exchange of patient clinical information. The Clinical Communications Gateway is used to send and receive patient identifiable clinical messages including referrals, prescriptions, diagnostic imaging, lab requests and results and monitor the progress of messages between care settings.
The health service in Ireland has built its own version of the clinical communications gateway, this is known as HealthLink, the National HealthLink Project and has been in operation for several years. The National HealthLink Project is a joint collaboration between the Office of the Chief Information Officer (HSE) and Hospitals throughout Ireland as well as Primary Care.
In 2016 the HealthLink team became part of the eHealth Ireland function in the Office of the Chief Information Officer in the HSE. HealthLink uses Health Information and Quality Authority standards to ensure messages can be passed around the health service digitally, it provides the capability to pass clinical messages such as laboratory test requests, test results reporting , image and diagnostic requests and referrals for a range of specialties. In 2016, over 17 million messages were transmitted mainly between Primary and Acute settings.
HealthLink has recently been involved in developing solutions around electronic referrals between primary and acute care settings. It builds upon the success of a pilot that was developed and implemented in hospitals across the South/South West Hospital Group in 2014 specifically for referrals. The objective of the initial project was to put in place an electronic general referral solution that was scalable, measurable, accessible, robust and transparent. Using the e-referral solution, a GP can submit a referral electronically directly from their practice management system to the hospital in question using the HIQA-approved referral form and immediately receive an acknowledgement confirming receipt of same. Later phases of the project ensure that the GP practice system also receives a response message once the patient has been triaged and enables the referral to be processed digitally within the hospital.
A programme to make it possible for all acute hospitals to accept (General) referrals electronically was initiated in Q1 2015. By December 2015, over 50% of all acute hospitals were live, including three complete hospitals groups, namely HSE South/South West, Saolta and the University of Limerick Hospital Group. As of May 2016, all public hospitals were live and can receive HIQA compliant general electronic referrals from GPs. Another phase of development proposes that general eReferrals can be sent to a single Central Referrals Office at a hospital group level, as is the case with the University of Limerick Hospital Group eReferrals, in order to facilitate a more effective management of eReferrals in terms of waiting times and capacity constraints at a hospital group level. Further expansion of the potential for eReferral is being examined including the potential for patients to see their referral using patient portal technology. HealthLink will also be the infrastructure for the movement of information relating to the Individual Health Identifier and the new national laboratory information system which are scheduled for implementation in 2017. My Department is currently evaluating a business case for a national electronic health record for Ireland to significantly improve the digital opportunity for healthcare. HealthLink will be a critical part of the development of digital health services into the future.
196. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health if data is available in respect of did not attend and late cancellation rates for day surgery theatres; if so, if he will provide this information for each of the past 18 months; the way in which this data is collected; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7779/17]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
197. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Donegal will receive an appointment at Sligo University Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7783/17]
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 HSE, 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.
198. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health the status of works at St. Vincent's Hospital, Athlone; when these works will be completed; if a re-opening date for this facility can be confirmed; and the future plans for this facility [7786/17]
View answerAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
199. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a hospital appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7791/17]
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 scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. Should a patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he or she should take the matter up with the consultant and the hospital involved. In relation to the specific case raised, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
200. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health the reason he plans rationalising the local offices which administer the fair deal scheme; his views on whether this will discommode the persons who rely on the service and will actually have a negative impact; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7808/17]
View answerThe Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) is a system of financial support for those assessed as needing long-term nursing home care. Participants contribute to the cost of their care according to their means while the State pays the balance of the cost. A care needs assessment is carried out to determine if a person requires long term care, followed by a financial assessment to determine how much a person will contribute to their cost of care. Currently, the average processing time to complete the application process is 4 weeks.
The Review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, published in July 2015 recommended the consolidation of the number of nursing homes support offices (NHSOs) from 17 local offices to 4 regional offices. Importantly the Review stated that there should still be a facility in the existing NHSOs to deal with queries from the public in relation to the Scheme and application process.
In line with the recommendation contained in the Review and as per the HSE's National Service Plan, 2017 the HSE is planning to improve efficiency and responsiveness for applicants by reducing the number of NHSOs from 17 to 5 during the current year. In implementing this development, the HSE will be maintaining a sufficient level of service in the existing local offices to ensure continuity of service and communication with the public. As a result, the existing local offices will continue to provide assistance to the public in regard to the Scheme.
