Written Answers Nos. 385-400
385. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Health the drug treatment programmes that are in operation for those addicted to illegal drugs in counties Longford and Westmeath; the plans there are to improve and add to these services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26170/21]
View answerAs this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
386. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details regarding plans to approve the use of a Covid-19 vaccine details supplied) ; if negotiations in relation to obtaining the vaccine for distribution here are taking place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26173/21]
View answerIreland is participating in an EU Procurement process with a view to accessing a portfolio of candidate vaccines against COVID-19 which are being negotiated with vaccine manufacturers by the Commission acting on behalf of Member States. Emergency Support Instrument (ESI) funding has been leveraged by the Commission to facilitate its negotiations with vaccine manufacturers, including with regard to production costs and securing a reduced per dose cost for Member States.
This process has provided Ireland with access to vaccines (at a reduced cost) that it would find it difficult to access otherwise within a year after the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern by the WHO. Four of the vaccines in the EU portfolio have already been awarded Conditional Marketing Authorisation (CMA) by the Commission.
Ireland supports efforts made by the Commission to safeguard the production and delivery of doses of vaccine in the quantities agreed with vaccine suppliers and to ensure that up-front funding provided through ESI has been properly used.
Covid 19 vaccines can only be approved and used if they comply with all the requirements of quality, safety and efficacy set out in the EU pharmaceutical legislation. No vaccine will be used until Market authorisation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is obtained and any authorised vaccine will be subject to ongoing monitoring in Ireland by the Health Product Regulatory Authority (HPRA).
The delivery of vaccines under APAs that the Commission has negotiated on behalf of Member States are predicated upon a CMA being obtained from the Commission (on the basis of a positive recommendation being awarded by the EMA).
The awarding of a CMA provides a high level of assurance that a vaccine has undergone rigorous testing and has met the requirements of the independent regulatory process as regards demonstrating its quality, safety and efficacy.
The EMA has started a rolling review of the Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine but it has not been awarded a CMA to date.
387. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health his views on a recent advertisement for unpaid posts for HSE services (details supplied); the position of the HSE on the recruitment of roles in an unpaid capacity by HSE services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26181/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
388. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health his views on a recent advertisement for unpaid posts for HSE services (details supplied); the person responsible for the creation of this advertisement; if the results of the review be made available to the public; if these positions will be readvertised as paid positions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26182/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
389. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health when the HSE plans to make an announcement on whether the current national pilot assistant psychologist roles programme is to be extended; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26183/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
390. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the status of the national oral health policy; the plans for its implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26191/21]
View answerSmile agus Sláinte, the National Oral Health Policy was published in April 2019 and is Government policy. It provides a framework to transform oral health services and will facilitate better oral healthcare for everyone.
Forty-one actions were identified within the Policy, which will be delivered over the next six to seven years. Nine priorities were identified for the first three years following publication of the Policy. Despite the current public health emergency, work to prepare for implementation is being undertaken in my Department and progress is being made on the Priority Actions identified in the Policy in the areas within the Department's remit including liaising with other agencies such as the Dental Council.
I look forward to progress being made by the HSE on the priority actions of the National Oral Health Policy for which it has responsibility but have been delayed due to the current Covid-19 pandemic.
391. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of dentists and orthodontists, respectively, who are registered and operating in the north County Kildare area; the number operating in each of the years 2017 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26192/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
392. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of dentists and orthodontists, respectively, who are registered for public treatment generally in each of the years 2017 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26193/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
393. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of registered complaints and or litigations against dentists made by medical card holders and by non-medical card holders, respectively in each of the years 2017 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26194/21]
View answerThe information sought by the Deputy is not held by my Department. The Dental Council, established under the Dentists Act 1985 is the regulatory body for the dental profession. The Dental Council deals with complaints concerning breaches of its Codes of Practice. The Dental Council publishes the results of Fitness to Practise Inquiries where allegations of professional misconduct against a dentist have been proven together with the sanctions imposed.
With regard to any complaints made to the HSE by medical card holders, this is an operational issue and therefore a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
394. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health if it is HSE and-or his Department's policy to approve or recommend silver filling over white composite fillings for medical card patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26195/21]
View answerIt is the Department's policy to phase out the use of dental amalgam, the material used for "silver fillings" by 2030. In line with EU Mercury Regulation (EU) 2017/852 and to ensure compliance with the Minamata Convention on Mercury my Department has set out its approach in the "National Plan for Phase-down to Phase-out of amalgam towards 2030” published in 2019. This is also an action and a key priority within the National Oral Health Policy, "Smile agus Sláinte”.
395. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the amount paid to dentists on the medical card system in each of the years 2017 to 2020, the number of patients treated in the system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26196/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
396. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the cost to the State of PPE for dentists since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26197/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
397. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of children admitted to hospital for tooth extraction nationwide and in north County Kildare in each of the years 2017 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26198/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
398. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of medical card patients and non-medical card patients, respectively that availed of tooth extractions in each of the years 2017 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26199/21]
View answerAs this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
399. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of patients availing of non-extraction dental care in the medical card, nationwide and in north County Kildare, in each of the years 2017 to 2020, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26200/21]
View answer400. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1010 of 28 April 2021, the length of each vacancy in CAMHS services in County Wexford; and the expected date these vacancies will be filled, in tabular form. [26207/21]
View answer“As this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.
