Written Answers Nos. 1497-1515
1497. Deputy Richard O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the current age of each boat in the Garda water unit; when each boat within the unit will be next scheduled to be replaced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20712/21]
View answerI have requested the information sought by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána, but I have not received this information in time. I will write to the Deputy as soon as the information is to hand.
1499. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Justice the current number of cases under section 115A of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 which have yet to reach a conclusion in the Circuit Court; the average length of time it takes for a case under section 115A to reach a conclusion in the Circuit Court; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20747/21]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of accommodation for court sittings, is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in its functions. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made regarding insolvency cases in the Circuit Court.
The Courts Service advises that there are currently 490 cases under section 115A of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, which have yet to reach a conclusion in the Circuit Court. All 490 cases have been listed for Court, as follows:
260 listed for court date in April (of which 77 have been heard);
212 listed for court date in May;
16 listed for court date in June; and
2 listed for court date in July.
I am further advised by the Courts Service that the average length of time it takes for a case under Section 115A to reach a conclusion in the Circuit Court depends on the volume of cases in the system at that time, if there is an objection to the application and the complexity of each individual case. The average length of time it takes for a case under section 115A to reach a conclusion in the Circuit Court is 440 days. The average time to completion is calculated from the date the application is filed in the court office to the conclusion of the application.
The Personal Insolvency (Amendment) (No. 1) Bill 2020 aims to addresses COVID-related obstacles identified by my Department, the ISI, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), and organisations representing Personal Insolvency Practitioners. The Bill removes the limitation in the section 115A court review process that requires insolvent borrowers with home mortgages to already be in arrears (or unsuccessfully restructured) before 1 January 2015. It also makes a range of procedural changes to ensure that personal insolvency processes work better for debtors affected by the pandemic and adjusts the asset ceiling (from €400 to €1,500) for an insolvent person applying for a Debt Relief Notice - the debt restructure designed for people with very little income or assets. The need for further legislative changes and other supports will be kept under review in the context of the Justice Sectoral Recovery Plan and emerging developments post Covid.
1500. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Health his views on childcare workers receiving the Covid-19 vaccine as a cohort; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18202/21]
View answerThe COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy sets out a provisional list of groups for vaccination. The Strategy was developed by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and my Department, endorsed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), and approved by Government on 8 December 2020.
On the 23rd of February, I announced an update to Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy. In comprising the initial Vaccine Allocation Strategy, the NIAC listed several conditions associated with increased risk of severe disease and death. In the intervening period, national and international evidence has become available which has enabled a more detailed analysis of underlying conditions that may increase the risk of developing severe disease or death. The NIAC has now been able to more comprehensively identify those medical conditions and to distinguish between those which place a person at very high or high risk of severe disease if they contract the virus. Medical conditions and the magnitude of the risk they pose will continue to be monitored and periodically reviewed.
On the 30th of March, the Government approved a further update to the COVID-19 Vaccination Allocation Strategy. Based on clinical, scientific and ethical frameworks produced by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee and my Department, following the vaccination of those most at risk, future groups will be vaccinated by age, in cohorts of 10 years (i.e., 64-55; 54-45, etc.).
The move to an age-based model better supports the programme objectives by:
protecting those at highest risk of severe disease first, which benefits everyone most;
facilitating planning and execution of the programme across the entire country;
improving transparency and fairness.
Further details are available here:
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/93f8f-minister-donnelly-announces-update-to-irelands-vaccination-prioritisation-list/
There is no evidence to show a significantly increased risk of severe COVID-19 disease, independent of age and other comorbidities, in any occupational group to prioritise them for vaccination above their age-cohort.
1501. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Health the measures being taken to ensure that data privacy of citizens is being protected in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic response, following recent reports in the media regarding data sharing proposals. [19424/21]
View answerThere is a strict oversight process in place within the HSE for both; a) the data being used in the course of producing reports and b) the ICT systems being deployed to process the data used and produce the reports.
The ICT system used to produce consolidated reports to inform Government in its management of the COVID-19 response is a separate instance of the HSE’s business analytics system, which allows for the isolation of this work from the rest of the HSE’s data systems and databases.
The information processing and report production process limits its use of data to aggregated and anonymised/pseudonymised data and not citizen level data.
1502. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Health the personal data currently being used or shared between Departments as part of the State’s Covid-19 response. [19425/21]
View answerThe following table lists the sources of data used in the production of reports supporting Government’s response to COVID-19. This covers the work done by the 1GC group and does not include any of the data utilised by NPHET/IEMAG.
|
Source |
Method |
Detail |
|
CSO |
Publicly available on CSO website |
Publicly available aggregated data, including related to: - Population demographics by region and age group - Employment details by county and job type - Pandemic unemployment details by country and job type - Staying Local Indicator by county - Covid-19 deaths by county and age group. |
|
GeoHive- Incidence Data (LEA) |
Publiclyavailable on website |
Publiclyavailable information regarding 14 day disease incidence per Local Electoral Area (LEA) per 100k population |
|
HSE |
Direct feed of information from HSE IIS System |
Consolidated HPSC Covid-19 outbreak information from HPSC. Only includes aggregated data for outbreaks with five or more cases. Any outbreaks with four or fewer cases are not shared. Summary information shared includes number of outbreaks, number of cases, outbreak type by county. |
|
HSE |
Direct feed of information from HSE IIS System |
Aggregate information of Covid-19 hospitalisations. Shared on a per hospital basis and includes total number of admissions, hospital cases, discharges and total number in critical care. |
|
Transport Infrastructure Ireland |
Direct from TII ShareFile site |
Summary of Ireland’s traffic volumes by a number of aggregate groupings, including road, road type, class type (vehicle type), direction, county and counter location. Dataset is consistent with what is shared in the TII website, but provided several days early in a more easily digestible format. |
|
Dublin City Council |
Email from Dublin City Council |
Pedestrian footfall counter on Dublin city centre streets. Dataset is an consistent with what is published by DCC, but provided several days early in a more easily digestible format. |
|
Revenue |
Publicly available on Revenue website |
Publicly available information regarding the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme per county |
|
Department of Justice |
Email from DoJ |
Consolidated daily airport arrivals survey and departures survey showing total numbers of travellers by country of origin, destination, purpose of trip and residency information. Weekly summary report also provided. |
|
Department of Justice |
Publicly available on DoJ website |
Summary of Garda fines information by county and reason. Published on an ongoing basis on the DoJ website. |
|
Department of Health |
Publicly available on DoH website |
Amárach survey report published on DoH website on a periodic basis. |
|
- |
Method |
Detail |
|
OurWorldInData |
Publicly available on OurWorldInData website |
Publicly available information on incidence rate per 100k population, vaccine rollout figures and Covid-19 related deaths. |
|
University of Maryland |
Publicly available on UMD website |
Publicly available Facebook survey information on event plans and lists, compliance symptom survey. Data is aggregated per county. |
1503. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health his plans to amend the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19513/21]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, drafting of a bill on assisted human reproduction (AHR) and associated areas of research, based on the published General Scheme of the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill, is ongoing by officials in my Department, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. As part of the drafting process, certain amendments to Parts 2 & 3 of the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 are being considered, but have not yet been finalised. Publication of the AHR legislation is a priority for my Department and the Government, and a commitment to enact this legislation is included in the Programme for Government, “Our Shared Future”.
1504. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health if he plans to implement mass Covid-19 antigen testing across the early years sector, focusing on areas with the highest infection rates. [20201/21]
View answer2074. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Health if he has considered testing the use of rapid antigen testing to allow the return of large spectator events; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19744/21]
View answer2206. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the status of rapid antigen testing for international travel and mass gatherings (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20130/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1504, 2074 and 2206 together.
I asked the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Professor Mark Ferguson, to chair a group to examine the use of rapid tests in the community and the “Report of the COVID-19 Rapid Testing Group” was published on 1 April 2021. The majority report highlights that rapid testing is a fast-developing field. It recommends that various sectors and industries, including business, sports and education, should work in partnership with government departments to pilot and initiate widespread feasibility studies with a view to evaluating the potential role of rapid testing as part of Ireland’s collective and sustained response to COVID-19.
As Deputies will appreciate, as Minister for Health, I am not responsible for the various sectors described. These are a matter for the Ministers and Departments with responsibility for the sectors concerned. Consideration of the recommendations in the Report is underway across a number of Government Departments and agencies in relation to the potential role of rapid tests across different sectors.
In the health sector, the HSE has deployed rapid antigen tests for use for specific indications in the acute hospital setting, and as part of the response to outbreaks in the community setting, supported by appropriate clinical governance and operational arrangements. This includes updating the case definition for SARS-CoV-2 to accept notification of positive results from rapid antigen tests undertaken in the public health system and reporting of such cases to the COVID Care tracker and to the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR) information system developed to manage the surveillance and control of infectious diseases in Ireland.
Considerable work has been undertaken to date to evaluate the potential use of rapid antigen tests in an Irish context and this will continue on an ongoing basis. For example, the HSE’s Antigen Validation Project Team has conducted a validation study of antigen testing in meat processing facilities. A further pilot of rapid antigen testing in this sector is being overseen by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and findings in relation to its evaluation are awaited. Further modelling work is being conducted to examine the potential for frequent antigen testing in this specific high-risk work setting to potentially compensate for test sensitivity limitations. Setting-specific rapid testing validation work across other settings continues to be undertaken by the HSE. In addition, the HSE, along with relevant sector stakeholders, is currently examining the potential for piloting of rapid antigen tests in education and childcare settings. I am aware that a further rapid testing partnership initiative by a number of universities, supported by partners including the HSE and HIQA, is also being scoped for piloting in the near future. Antigen testing, or other forms of rapid testing, will not, however, replace the requirement for large scale PCR testing in this country which remains the gold standard diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2.
1505. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if he has received engagements from the Taoiseach in relation to CervicalCheck raised with the Taoiseach in Dáil Éireann by this Deputy on 8 December 2020; and the forms of engagement that were undertaken with his Department in relation to the issues raised during that contribution in Dáil Éireann. [20751/21]
View answerI wish to refer the Deputy to a PQ reply issued directly to him on 14 April 2021 regarding this matter.
As stated in that PQ reply, engagement between my Department and the Department of An Taoiseach on the matter has been in context of usual administrative processes in place for responding to parliamentary business.
Replies to Parliamentary Questions have also previously been furnished to the Deputy on the general issues involved on 16 December 2020 and on 17 February 2021.
1506. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Health the number of primary medical certificate applications at hand to date; the number of applications waiting to be assessed; the number of applications that have been processed in the past four months by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20775/21]
View answerThe Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme is underpinned by statute and comes under the remit of the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners.
The extent of the involvement of Health Service Executive (HSE) Community Medical Doctors in the Scheme relates to making a clinical determination as to whether an individual applicant meets the specified medical criteria for a Primary Medical Certificate, which is a requirement for the Scheme.
The Deputy may be aware that following a Supreme Court decision of June 2020, the assessment process for Primary Medical Certificates was suspended at the request of the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe T.D.. Following the approval of the Finance Act 2020 which provides for the medical criteria in primary legislation, the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, T.D., issued an instruction to the HSE to recommence assessments from 1st January, 2021.
The ability to hold assessments has been impacted by, among other things, the public health restrictions in place to suppress and manage the spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately there are delays in the processing of assessments due to the involvement of the HSE Medical Doctors in the national COVID-19 response, which I know are causing undue strain on applicants.
I recently met again with the HSE to discuss the issues around the delay in accessing Primary Medical Certificate assessments. The HSE has confirmed that the assessment process has recommenced and it is continuing to monitor the situation in the context of resuming the range of services that are provided by Community Medical Doctors under the HSE Service Recovery and Restoration Plan, taking into account the pressures and challenges to the health services presented by COVID.
As the queries raised by the Deputy relate to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the HSE for consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.
1507. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Health when computerised medical examinations for membership of medical governing bodies will resume given that frontline workers are vaccinated against the effects of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18100/21]
View answer1678. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health his plans to provide temporary registration for those waiting for PRES 3 exams allowing those who qualified to work in hospitals until the exams are resumed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18626/21]
View answer1679. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health when the new registration date for PRES 3 exams will be provided; if additional registration dates are being considered to allow more doctors who have been waiting for a long time to register; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18627/21]
View answer1815. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health when, in view of easing of Covid restrictions, it is planned to hold pres three exams to allow foreign doctors currently living here to get permanent registration which will allow them to take up work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19047/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1507, 1678, 1679 and 1815 together.
I propose to take PQs 18100/21, 18626/21, 18627/21 and 19047/21 together.
The Pre-Registration Examination System (PRES) is an assessment of a doctor's clinical skills and is required by doctors seeking registration by the Medical Council on its general or trainee specialist division unless they are otherwise exempt. The PRES is conducted by medical schools on behalf of the Medical Council. Unfortunately, due to the onset of COVID-19, medical schools were unable to hold the PRES 3 exams last year. The Medical Council has advised that it has been in contact with the medical schools throughout the year with a view to holding the exams but the continuing restrictions associated with the third wave have impacted the ability to hold these exams given the high number of people involved, including candidates, examiners, patient actors and administration support. As these are clinical examinations, the doctors and patients/actors being in close proximity is unavoidable and would be contrary to social distancing guidelines.The Medical Council has advised that it has remained in contact with the medical schools and the hosting of these exams is seen as a priority, with all parties agreeing that these exams must go ahead with the necessary arrangements and safety procedures in place. I have been advised that the Council and medical schools are exploring all options and hope to provide an update to candidates in the coming weeks.The Medical Council understands the frustration felt by many of the doctors who have applied to take this exam, particularly those who are already living in Ireland. However, the Council’s priority is the safety of patients and it important that only doctors who meet the appropriate standards are able to practise medicine unsupervised. The President of the Council has written directly to the doctors waiting to take the exam to update them and to reassure them that all parties are working to find a safe solution.
1508. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if it is Government policy or if he supports the policy of refusing medical students and nursing students work placement in cases in which they have opted not to take the Covid-19 vaccination; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18102/21]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1509. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of persons awaiting treatment for scoliosis in each county. [18103/21]
View answerI sincerely regret that children can experience a long waiting time for treatment for scoliosis, and I am conscious of the burden that this places on them and their families. This Government’s priority is to improve waiting times for all patients accessing hospital treatment across all specialties, including Scoliosis.
It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result of the deferral of elective scheduled care activity in March, April and May of 2020, and since 2nd January 2021.
It is of note that key social distancing measures and Infection Prevention and Control requirements, such as two-metre distancing, have a material impact on the available physical space to deliver all hospital services, including scoliosis procedures, and this has had a significant impact on both available capacity and operational activity levels.
Despite the challenges resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic last year, by 31st December 2020 Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) had carried out 322 scoliosis procedures, a decrease in activity of 16% compared with 2019. By the end of February 2021, CHI had carried out a total of 108 scoliosis surgeries, an increase of 24 surgeries (29%) compared to the same period in 2020.
Children’s Health Ireland has advised that under the current HSE guidelines, they have reduced the number of procedures to urgent and those that are time sensitive. Children’s Health Ireland has advised that they are working with the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh to expand orthopaedic capacity. This is expected to have a positive impact on orthopaedic long waiting patients, including reductions in waiting times for children with scoliosis. CHI is also running additional orthopaedic clinics in City West, using a new active clinical triage model, which is reducing the number of children waiting the longest for appointments.
Representatives of CHI, the Orthopaedic Spinal Team and the Advocacy Groups continue to meet as part of the Co-Design framework on a quarterly basis to work on providing solutions for patients in the spinal service.
In relation to the specific query raised by the Deputy, the attached table, provided to my Department by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) shows the number of patients awaiting scoliosis procedures in all hospitals by County of Residence at the end of March 2021. The NTPF has advised that the waiting list data they receive from hospitals relates to the procedures required by the patients and not to the condition being treated. The waiting list data attached is based on the procedures relevant to scoliosis patients but may also include patients with other conditions.
1510. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of persons waiting for cataract appointments in each county. [18104/21]
View answerIt is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The HSE is currently recommending that only critical time dependent elective procedures are undertaken at this time due to the on-going and significant increased demand for bed capacity related to COVID-19.
This decision was made arising from the rapid increase in Covid-19 admissions and to ensure patient safety and that all appropriate resources were made available for Covid-19 related activity and time-critical essential work.
Patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically-aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols. The HSE continues to optimise productivity through alternative work practices such as the use of alternative settings including private hospitals, community facilities and alternative outpatient settings.
On 23 March the HSE published the “Safe Return to Health Services Plan”. This plan outlines a three phased plan for the proposed restoration of services across Community Services, Acute Hospital Operations, Cancer Services and Screening Services. It sets target times for their safe return and details the conditions and challenges that will have to be met.
Every phase of the plan has been informed by clinical guidance and putting patient and staff safety first.
Decisions in relation to the type and volume of activity will be made at site level based on local COVID-19 numbers, available capacity and guidance from national clinical leads.
The schedule outlined in the plan for resumption of services will be regularly monitored by the HSE and updated as appropriate, dependant on public health advice and healthcare capacity.
In recent years, my Department has worked with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to improve access for patients waiting for high volume procedures, including cataracts. Ophthalmology services are provided throughout all hospital groups in the country, with cataract removal one of the key procedures carried out as part of this specialty.
A key development in improving access to Ophthalmology services was the opening of a stand-alone high-volume consultant-led cataract theatre by the University of Limerick Hospital Group in Nenagh Hospital in 2018, with the intention that it would facilitate patients from surrounding geographical areas to avail of their treatment there. The impact of such initiatives can be seen in the reduction in the waiting times to access cataract procedures since 2019. At the end of March 2021 there were 4,226 patients waiting for a cataract procedure compared to 6,268 in March 2019.
The work of the HSE to improve access to elective care and reduce waiting times for patients is supported by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). This includes increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services where minor procedures are provided at the same time as outpatient consultations, funding hybrid services where public and private hospitals contribute to the treatment of patients, virtual clinics and clinical validation.
€240 million has been provided in Budget 2021 for an access to care fund, €210m of which has been allocated to the HSE and a further €30m to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This will be used to fund additional capacity to address the shortfall arising as a result of measures taken in the context of COVID-19, as well as to address waiting lists.
The data requested by the Deputy regarding the number of persons waiting for cataract appointments in each county is outlined in the attached document.
1511. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the position of persons with Addison’s disease on the vaccine roll-out; his views on the frustration and lack of clarity experienced by those with Addison’s and other rare diseases at a failure to communicate their cohort in the vaccine roll-out; and if a commitment will be given to provide clarity in relation to same. [18108/21]
View answerThe COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy sets out a provisional list of groups for vaccination. The Strategy was developed by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) and my Department, endorsed by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET), and approved by Government on 8 December 2020.
On the 23rd of February, I announced an update to Ireland’s COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy. In comprising the initial Vaccine Allocation Strategy, the NIAC listed several conditions associated with increased risk of severe disease and death. In the intervening period, national and international evidence has become available which has enabled a more detailed analysis of underlying conditions that may increase the risk of developing severe disease or death. The NIAC has now been able to more comprehensively identify those medical conditions and to distinguish between those which place a person at very high or high risk of severe disease if they contract the virus. Medical conditions and the magnitude of the risk they pose will continue to be monitored and periodically reviewed.
On the 30th of March, the Government approved a further update to the COVID-19 Vaccination Allocation Strategy. Based on clinical, scientific and ethical frameworks produced by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee and my Department , following the vaccination of those most at risk, future groups will be vaccinated by age, in cohorts of 10 years (i.e., 64-55; 54-45, etc.).
The move to an age-based model better supports the programme objectives by:
protecting those at highest risk of severe disease first, which benefits everyone most;
facilitating planning and execution of the programme across the entire country;
improving transparency and fairness.
Further details are available here:
https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/93f8f-minister-donnelly-announces-update-to-irelands-vaccination-prioritisation-list/
1512. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health if staff at a facility (details supplied) have received vaccinations outside of NIAC protocols; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18114/21]
View answerIreland is participating in a Procurement Exercise being operated by the European Commission on behalf of Member States to procure suitable, safe and effective vaccines, in sufficient quantities, to combat COVID-19. Six Advance Purchase Agreements (APA) have been negotiated by the Commission under this process to date.
Vaccines are being made available without charge to all persons resident in the State.
Ireland’s COVID-19 vaccination programme strategy is to distribute all available vaccines as quickly as is operationally possible, prioritising those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19.
The programme is based on the principles of safety, effectiveness and fairness, with the objective of reducing severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths from COVID-19 infection.
Vaccines are being allocated in line with the COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Strategy.
Further information on the Strategy is available here:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/39038-provisional-vaccine-allocation-groups/
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1513. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Health when a diagnostic assessment will be carried out on a child (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18115/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly.
1514. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health when he will provide for the reimbursement of medicinal cannabis oil products PCBD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18116/21]
View answerThe HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products under the community drug schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
In June 2019, the Minister for Health signed legislation to underpin the operation of the Medical Cannabis Access Programme (MCAP). This is a 5-year pilot programme, restricted to prescribing of cannabis-based products by medical consultants, for patients with certain medical conditions who have exhausted all other available medical treatment options.
Those conditions are:
Spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis
Intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy
Severe, refractory (treatment-resistant) epilepsy.
For more information relating to the MCAP, including FAQs, please see the Department of Health’s website at the following link.
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/90ece9-medical-cannabis-access-programme/
Commercial suppliers whose cannabis products have been reviewed and are considered to have met the specified requirements set out in the legislation and are in line with the clinical guidance for the MCAP, will have their products added to Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) Regulations 2019. Once the products are listed in Schedule 1 of these Regulations the suppliers will be permitted to supply these products to the Irish market, in line with legal and regulatory requirements. Cannabis products will only be listed in Schedule 1 of the Regulations once they have been assessed as suitable for medical use under the MCAP.
To date four products have been added to Schedule 1 of the Misuse of Drugs (Prescription and Control of Supply of Cannabis for Medical Use) Regulations 2019. The four products are:
1. Aurora High CBD Oil Drops
2. CannEpil ™
3. Tilray Oral Solution THC10:CBD10 25ml
4. Aurora Sedamen Softgels.
The HSE has engaged in discussions with the suppliers of these products, regarding pricing and supply information. The HSE will consider such information, in line with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. The programme will not become fully operational until pricing and supply matters are agreed.
Once the MCAP commences the HSE will establish and maintain a Register to facilitate the enrolment and recording of certain data including patient identifiers (in anonymised format), prescribers enrolled in the Programme, as well as prescribed / supplied medical cannabis products.
Pending full operation of the MCAP and for medical indications not included in the MCAP, doctors may continue to utilise the Ministerial licencing route to prescribe medical cannabis for their patients, should they wish to do so.
In line with the Chief Medical Officer's advice, the granting of a licence for cannabis for medical purposes must be premised on an appropriate application being submitted to the Department of Health, which is endorsed by a consultant who is responsible for the management of the patient and who is prepared to monitor the effects of the treatment over time. This information can be found at the following links:
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/1a5c4e-applying-to-the-minister-for-health-for-a-medical-cannabis-licence/
https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/e35cb4-ministerial-licence-application-process/
It is important to note that the medical decision to prescribe or not prescribe any treatment, including cannabis treatment, for an individual patient is strictly a decision for the treating clinician, in consultation with their patient. The Minister for Health has no role in this clinical decision-making process.
1515. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Health the way in which high risk persons such as those with a BMI over 40 who are under general practitioner care and do not have a hospital team will be contacted for their Covid-19 vaccination. [18118/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
