Written Answers Nos. 2067-2085
2067. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the alternative options available to parents who are attempting to secure an autism assessment for their child but who cannot afford to wait the time via the public system or the fees via the private system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19731/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly.
2069. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health if his Department in conjunction with the HSE can make provisions for early intervention appointments for children in order that they are seen outside of school hours (details supplied). [19738/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly.
2071. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health when the report on Prader-Willi syndrome will be published; the extent to which matters arising are in hand with a view to meeting the concerns of families affected by this particular condition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19741/21]
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.
I met with representatives of the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of Ireland (PWSAI) on the 4th February this year and I must say that the Prader-Willi syndrome Report is very much welcomed and a reflection of the commitment of PWSAI.
It was proposed to enlist the wider support of other stakeholders in conjunction with the Health Service Executive (HSE) to formulate an implementation plan.
I am informed by the HSE that this process is being undertaken with a view to publishing the report, and establishing a working group to develop a model of integrated clinical care that will take into account the specific healthcare recommendations of this report.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2072. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the progress to date on the provision of a respite centre for persons affected by Prader-Willi syndrome; if budgetary provision is adequate to meet this request; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19742/21]
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.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2073. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health when a specifically dedicated area in psychiatry will be apportioned to studies relating to Prader-Willi syndrome; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19743/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
2075. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health the reason for the current closure of St. Michael's unit, a ten-bed facility in Beaumont Hospital; and if his attention has been drawn to the impact this is having on rehabilitation services and waiting lists for those seeking supports. [19745/21]
View answer2280. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Health the current status of St. Michael's Ward in Beaumont Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20418/21]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 2075 and 2280 together.
Beaumont Hospital advises that St. Michael’s Ward is temporarily being used as a Covid-19 vaccination centre. It is envisaged that it will revert to its previous designation by the end of June 2021.
2076. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health the reason for the current closure of Keltoi rehabilitation and residential unit in the Phoenix Park and the closure of St. Michael’s unit in Beaumont Hospital in 2020; if his attention has been drawn to the effect this is causing on other services and providers throughout the city and those in the CHO7 area (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19746/21]
View answerAs these are service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly on them as soon as possible.
2077. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who fall into the very high risk and high risk category as per the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19753/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2078. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Health the number of vaccines that have been administered (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19755/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2079. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health his views on the staffing shortages in the Ballyfermot mental health services (details supplied). [19761/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
2080. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Health if he will issue a directive requesting the HSE to ensure that patients from a general optician practice (details supplied) receive their overdue vaccines as soon as possible. [19767/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2081. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No 195 of 17 September 2020, the status of the Farrelly Commission in relation to the Grace case; when the report of the commission will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19771/21]
View answerThe Farrelly Commission commenced work on 15th May 2017 and was due to submit its phase one final report within one year of commencing its work. The Commission's work is ongoing. It has been granted four extensions to allow it to complete its investigations.
The Minister of State for Disability, Anne Rabbitte, T.D. and I met the Commission on 21st September 2020 to discuss its work and reporting timeframe. Minister Rabbitte and Department officials had a further meeting with the Commission on 2nd October 2020. The Commission has submitted two substantive interim reports to me on its investigation in January and March 2021. Minister Rabbitte and I are considering these reports.
2082. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the manner in which variants of concern are detected as an issue in the context of differing levels of sequencing across the EU; if all EU states have equal or comparable capacity for sequencing and detecting variants of concern; if not, the way the strategy for identifying designated states accounts for variation in this capacity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19772/21]
View answerAt present, the National Virus Reference Laboratory and partners undertake Whole Genome Sequencing on a proportion of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ireland, currently approximately 20% all COVID-19 cases nationally each week (approximately 1,000 samples per week).
Sequencing of all positive samples from travellers arriving in Ireland from a designated country is now undertaken. The aim is to use whole genome sequencing to inform and enhance the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Countries are designated under the Health Act 1947 by the Minister for Health following consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and across Government as necessary. An Expert Advisory Group on Travel to the CMO (EAGT) was established on 1 March 2021 to develop a method of risk assessing countries and to consider broader issues of travel and COVID-19. In making recommendations the EAGT considers data published by HPSC, WHO and ECDC among a range of other sources. The Chief Medical Officer considers EAGT recommendations and in turn makes recommendations to the Minister for Health who decides designation of individual states.
2083. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Health if there is a contingency for Irish citizens (details supplied) who are returning to Ireland from the USA and have to go through the two week hotel quarantine but do not have the means to pay the €2,000 fee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19780/21]
View answerThe Health Act 1947, as amended, provides that all persons arriving in Ireland from a designated state, or having travelled through a designated state in the previous 14 days, are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility unless they are an exempted traveller under the Act. All applicable travellers must reserve and pay for a place in mandatory hotel quarantine.
Mandatory hotel quarantine is also necessary in circumstances where passengers coming from non-designated states do not provide evidence that they have a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours before arrival into Ireland.
The Act identifies those who are exempt from mandatory hotel quarantine and a full list of exemptions can be accessed on gov.ie/quarantine.
Unaccompanied minors arriving in to the State who have travelled from or through a designated state in the 14 days prior to arrival in Ireland will not be permitted to enter a mandatory quarantine facility alone.
Either, their adult guardian can enter mandatory hotel quarantine with them; or if this is not possible their guardian must sign a written undertaking to ensure the child will adhere to quarantine rules under their care at home or in a boarding school.
As of 17th April, travellers who are fully vaccinated and have documents to prove their vaccination are exempt from completing mandatory hotel quarantine. Fully vaccinated travellers are still required to have a negative pre-departure RT-PCR test and complete a period of self-quarantine at home or wherever specified in their passenger locator form.
The following table outlines the definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ in order to qualify for an exemption.
|
Type of vaccine |
You are regarded as fully vaccinated after |
|
Pfizer-BioNtech |
7 days after 2nd dose |
|
Moderna |
14 days after 2nd dose |
|
Oxford-AstraZeneca |
15 days after 2nd dose |
|
Johnson & Johnson/Janssen |
14 days after single dose |
The Government continues to evaluate wider policy on international travel as informed by the epidemiological situation and public health advice, including the possibility of future exemptions.
The provisions of the Act also allows for travellers to request a review of decisions relating to their quarantine; however this can only be undertaken once quarantine has begun.
All guests are responsible for the full cost of their stay in a quarantine facility, including their initial booking as well as any additional costs which might be incurred.
It should be noted that in some limited and exceptional cases, such as emergency repatriation of a citizen, a deferral on the requirement to pre-pay for quarantine while booking may be granted by the Department of Foreign Affairs. This deferral does not remove the responsibility of such guests to pay for the full cost of their quarantine in a designated facility.
Additionally, I understand that my colleague the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science is establishing a refund mechanism for students returning from Erasmus programmes who are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility.
Neither I as Minister for Health nor my Department have a role in decisions relating to whether individual persons must enter mandatory quarantine or whether individual persons are exempted travellers.
2084. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if an assessment for home help will be expedited in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19781/21]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2085. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health his plans to improve Ireland’s performance on access to new medicines relative to other western European countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19792/21]
View answer"League tables" comparing speed of reimbursement in Ireland with that of other countries are often misleading, as several countries have quite different and often less rigorous statutory assessment arrangements than Ireland. Furthermore, many of the newer products being licensed are falling well short of cost-effectiveness thresholds, with limited clinical benefits.
As the Deputy is aware, the Oireachtas put in place a robust legal framework, in the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, to give full statutory powers to the HSE to assess and make decisions on reimbursement of medicines, taking account of a range of objective factors and expert opinion as appropriate. These include the clinical and cost effectiveness of the product, the opportunity cost, the potential or actual budget impact, and the impact on resources that are available to the HSE.
In line with the 2013 Act, if a company would like a medicine to be reimbursed by the HSE, the company must first submit an application to the HSE to have the new medicine added to the reimbursement list.
As outlined in the IPHA agreement, and in line with the 2013 Act, the HSE will decide, within 180 days of receiving the application (or a longer period if further information is sought from the company), to either add the medicine to the reimbursement list or agree to reimburse it as a hospital medicine, or refuse to reimburse the medicine.HSE decisions on which medicines are reimbursed by the taxpayer are made on objective, scientific and economic grounds, on the advice of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE). The NCPE conducts health technology assessments (HTAs) for the HSE and makes recommendations on reimbursement to assist HSE decisions. The NCPE uses a decision framework to systematically assess whether a drug is cost-effective as a health intervention.
The process for assessing applications works very well where the new medicines have strong evidence of clinical effectiveness and are priced in a cost-effective manner. Delays in reimbursement decisions for new products may occur in cases where the evidence of clinical effectiveness is weak, and where prices are set well outside of cost effectiveness parameters.
The HSE strives to reach a decision in as timely a manner as possible. However, because these commitments are often multi-million-euro investments on an ongoing basis, it must ensure that the best possible price is achieved. This can lead to a protracted negotiation and deliberation process.
The Government wants new and innovative medicines to be available to our citizens as quickly as possible, but this can only be achieved if medicines are priced by the pharmaceutical industry in a viable and sustainable manner.
Ireland has been engaging over the past number of years with a number of voluntary EU forums. In June 2018, Ireland joined the Beneluxa Initiative on Pharmaceutical Policy. This Initiative is in line with the objective of working with other European countries to identify workable collaborative solutions, in an increasingly challenging environment, to secure timely access for patients to new medicines in an affordable and sustainable way. In June 2019, Ireland became a Founding Member of the International Horizon Scanning Initiative which aims to assist member states' planning and allocation of resources with respect to new medicines.
As the Deputy will be aware, additional funding of €50m was provided for new medicines in Budget 2021. This funding will allow the HSE Executive Management Team (EMT) to approve new and innovative medicines which have been recommended by the HSE Drugs Group on the basis of efficacy and value for money in line with the 2013 Health Act.
As of 15 April, the HSE EMT had approved reimbursement of 22 new medicines or new uses of existing medicines in 2021. The HSE will continue assess any pricing and reimbursement applications received for new medicines, in line with the 2013 Act.
