Thursday, 30 Mar 2017

Written Answers Nos. 225-237

Pharmacy Regulations

Questions (225)

Robert Troy

Question:

225. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health his plans to introduce a law whereby a pharmacist must provide a detailed receipt, including the price of each medication, on the prescription. [15942/17]

Written answers

Minister for Health

The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) Code of Conduct for pharmacists requires pharmacists to ‘provide honest, relevant, accurate, current and appropriate information to patients regarding the nature, cost, value and benefit of medicines, health-related products and services provided by them.’ Patients are entitled to ask for a breakdown of their medicine costs and the person in charge of the pharmacy should provide that information. The PSI has advised pharmacies that this should include an itemised receipt.

In 2014, the PSI Council issued principles to all pharmacists relating to pricing transparency to guide practice in retail pharmacy. This includes providing meaningful advice to patients about medicines and their prices, including provision of an itemised receipt.

The PSI Council also commissioned the development of a Patient Charter - You and Your Pharmacist - which was launched in August 2016. It is a reflection of the standards set out in the Code of Conduct for pharmacists as they relate to people availing of the professional services, advice and care provided by a community pharmacist. It includes the commitment that patients ‘can expect your pharmacist to give you clear information about the cost of medicines, other pharmacy services and health products’.

As this is a matter for the PSI in the first instance, and the PSI have addressed this issue in their Code of Conduct and Patient Charter, I have no plans to introduce a law whereby pharmacists must provide a detailed receipt including the price of each medication on the prescription at this time.

Disability Support Services

Questions (226)

Peter Burke

Question:

226. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite an inspection to approve a house and to ensure that staff are employed on a contract between the HSE and an organisation for a person (details supplied) with immediate effect. [15948/17]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Health

The 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.

The particular issue raised by the Deputy is a service matter for the Health Service Executive (HSE). Accordingly, I have arranged for the Deputy's question to be referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.

Occupational Therapy

Questions (227)

Dara Calleary

Question:

227. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Health the current waiting lists for occupational therapy provision here, by county, in tabular form; if he will provide a breakdown of these lists into persons waiting for 12 months or less, 24 months or less, 36 months or less, 48 months or less and 60 months or less; and the steps he has taken to address these lists. [15990/17]

Written answers

Minister for Health

As this question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply.

GLAS Payments

Questions (228)

Timmy Dooley

Question:

228. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will receive GLAS payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15776/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The person named was approved into GLAS 1 with a contract commencement date of 1 October 2015 and he has been paid in full in respect of the 2015 scheme year. The 85% advance of his 2016 payment was paid to him on 29 December 2016.  The balancing 15% of his 2016 payment will issue in due course.

Commencement of Legislation

Questions (229)

Peter Burke

Question:

229. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the Forestry Act 2014 will be commenced; the effect this will have on setback distances of trees from public roads; if possible detrimental effects of this have been analysed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15791/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

It is currently proposed to commence the Forestry Act, 2014 with effect from mid-May 2017.

The Act provides an exemption from the requirement for a Felling Licence for trees outside a forest "within 10 metres of a public road and which, in the opinion of the owner (being an opinion formed on reasonable grounds), is dangerous to persons using the public road on account of its age or condition".  This provision is considered essential from a health and safety perspective and outweighs any other potential negative impacts.

Knowledge Transfer Programme

Questions (230)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

230. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address a matter (details supplied) with regard to a discussion group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15820/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Knowledge Transfer Facilitators are approved to run Knowledge Transfer Groups for the three year duration of the programme. In exceptional circumstances such as those outlined, my Department may approve the transfer of the group to another approved facilitator.

The requested transfer of the Knowledge Transfer Sheep groups mentioned has now been finalised and access to the supporting IT systems is now in place.

Afforestation Programme

Questions (231)

Niamh Smyth

Question:

231. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will review an application (details supplied); the stage at which this application is; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15823/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

An application for Afforestation was received on behalf of the named person on 4th January 2017. The application was reviewed by the Regional Inspector and is now being considered by the Department's ecologist.

Once a response has been received from the ecologist a decision will be made on the application and the applicant will be notified.

Basic Payment Scheme Payments

Questions (232)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

232. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the delay in payment being issued to a person (details supplied) in County Donegal under the basic payment scheme 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15871/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The person named submitted a 2016 Transfer of Entitlements application to my Department seeking the transfer of entitlements by lease as Transferor.  This transfer has now been finalised and payment under the Basic Payment Scheme 2016 will issue shortly.

Knowledge Transfer Programme

Questions (233)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

233. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if it is possible to proceed to add additional participants to the knowledge transfer group up to the maximum level of 18 persons with regard to the knowledge transfer group scheme in the event that a person in a knowledge transfer group dies or is deemed ineligible to join a group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15885/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The Knowledge Transfer (KT) Programme targets 27,000 farmers over the duration of the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020.  In the eight week period to 14th July 2016 Knowledge Transfer Facilitators were required to register participants for their Knowledge Transfer Groups for the 3 years of the KT Programme.  Any persons not registered prior to this date are not eligible to participate in the Knowledge Transfer Programme.

While there are no provisions with the programme to include additional group members to those currently registered, in the event of death of a participant, applications from their successor will be considered.

Laboratory Facilities

Questions (234)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

234. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the working group reviewing his Department's general laboratory services and its recommendation to close three regional veterinary laboratories in counties Limerick, Kilkenny and Sligo; if he will ensure that all such facilities remain open to ensure the highest levels of animal disease surveillance is accessible on a regional basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15886/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

DAFM commissioned a Working Group (WG) led by Prof. Alan Reilly to undertake a comprehensive review of DAFM Laboratories (Backweston, Sligo, Limerick, Cork, Athlone and Kilkenny). The WG has presented a report to the Department, which makes recommendations on:

- Oversight and co-ordination of the laboratories activities

- Re-organisation of Divisions and support functions within the Central Laboratory complex

- Options for the future development of the Regional Laboratories – with a view to improving disease investigative and surveillance capability but with the overriding imperative of maintaining and enhancing services to farmers and

- Human resources management within the laboratories - with a focus on grading structures, career development opportunities and workforce planning

The Department is currently consulting with relevant stakeholders. A decision on any of these recommendations will await the outcome of this consultative process. In the case of the Regional Laboratories any decision will also be informed by a cost benefit analysis of the various options that have been proposed.

Knowledge Transfer Programme

Questions (235)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

235. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration will be given to extending the 31 May 2017 deadline for completion of works and actions under the knowledge transfer group scheme in view of the fact knowledge transfer group facilitators have called for such an extension to cater for the heavy bureaucratic workload required and considering that the online system for submitting paperwork under the knowledge transfer programme is not yet operational, while many other Pillar 1 and 2 scheme deadlines fall in the next two months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15887/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

There are no plans to extend the 31st May deadline for the Knowledge Transfer Programme.

The Knowledge Transfer Farm Improvement Plan online system which will be available shortly records key data and recommendations related to actions completed.  In the meantime Knowledge Transfer Facilitators can complete the actions and prepare the data for entry when the system goes live.

GLAS Data

Questions (236)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

236. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons in receipt of GLAS 1 and GLAS 2 who have received 85% of their total 2016 payment, by county, in tabular form; the number of persons who have passed all payment approval checks and are awaiting their 2016 payment; the number of GLAS recipients who have yet to receive payment by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15888/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The information requested is set out in the following table.

-	GLAS 1	GLAS 1	GLAS 1	GLAS 2	GLAS 2	GLAS 2
County Name	Sent for payment	PPV - Pass	Unpaid	Sent for payment	PPV - Pass	Unpaid
Carlow	247	1	31	117	1	10
Cavan	828	9	76	411	6	15
Clare	1479	5	137	652	4	35
Cork	1875	27	268	907	9	98
Donegal	1690	38	227	875	12	124
Dublin	51	2	10	15	0	2
Galway	2633	41	431	1133	18	162
Kerry	1585	15	180	790	18	69
Kildare	217	2	32	72	1	9
Kilkenny	386	3	45	185	2	25
Laois	324	5	43	179	0	18
Leitrim	918	7	101	385	2	33
Limerick	927	21	108	277	2	23
Longford	471	3	43	331	3	15
Louth	121	2	27	73	0	7
Mayo	2171	63	335	1114	10	209
Meath	366	7	55	176	1	27
Monaghan	519	4	56	132	1	13
Offaly	425	4	47	251	2	27
Roscommon	1381	23	131	514	6	34
Sligo	862	11	76	342	1	26
Tipperary	984	16	145	446	6	61
Waterford	293	2	69	111	2	19
Westmeath	590	4	60	247	3	14
Wexford	638	2	136	238	2	30
Wicklow	285	2	45	126	0	29
	22,266	319	2,914	10,099	112	1134

Agri-Environment Options Scheme Data

Questions (237)

Charlie McConalogue

Question:

237. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons who applied for AEOS who have received their total 2016 payment, by county, in tabular form; the number of persons who have passed all payment approval checks and are awaiting their 2016 payment; the number of AEOS recipients who have yet to receive payment, by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15889/17]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

AEOS II participants completed their 5-year contracts on 31 December 2016. Under the EU Regulations governing this Scheme and all other area-based payment schemes, a full check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System, must take place before payment can issue. As all AEOS II participants will be receiving their final payments under the scheme, re-checks on payments made for all scheme years must be completed before final payment can be processed.  All cases cleared for payment are paid on a weekly basis.

County	Totals	Paid	Awaiting Payment
Carlow	49	43	6
Cavan	244	205	39
Clare	556	476	80
Cork	428	356	72
Donegal	1360	1168	192
Dublin	9	9	0
Galway	1245	1051	194
Kerry	568	474	94
Kildare	39	30	9
Kilkenny	109	87	22
Laois	80	55	25
Leitrim	430	372	58
Limerick	224	176	48
Longford	89	74	15
Louth	41	31	10
Mayo	1399	1197	202
Meath	83	71	12
Monaghan	151	109	42
Offaly	110	93	17
Roscommon	478	419	59
Sligo	335	292	43
Tipperary	245	181	64
Waterford	82	70	12
Westmeath	122	91	31
Wexford	84	54	30
Wicklow	80	65	15
Totals	8640	7249	1391