Written Answers Nos. 1103-1123
1103. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which adequate provision has been made in the short term to deal with various aspects of women’s health with a view to ensuring minimum waiting times, early diagnosis and a rapid response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38106/22]
View answerImproving women’s health outcomes is a key priority for me, as Minister for Health, and for this Government. We made a strong commitment to Promoting Women’s Health in the Programme for Government and are fully committed to the development and improvement of Women’s Health services and to working with women and girls to improve their health across the whole life cycle.
Budget 2022 ring-fenced €31m in funding for new Developments for Women’s Health. This includes:
- €8.66 million additional funding for the National Maternity Strategy.
- €9 million to fund access to contraception for women aged 17-25.
- €5.3 million to grow access to “see and treat” gynaecology clinics; specialist menopause clinics; and specialist endometriosis services.
- €1.34 million to support initial establishment of a perinatal genetics service
- €0.71m investment in tackling period poverty for the first time.
- €0.54million to establish an expert Obstetric Event Support Team to support services and sites that report severe maternity incidents
- €0.25m additional investment in Sexual Assault Treatment Units.
In addition, Budget 2022 increased the allocation to the Women’s Health Fund (€10 million) enabling the Department to retain a responsiveness to meet women’s needs as they arise and accelerate progress on key initiatives where possible. On 28th April 2022 I allocated up to €2.5 million of the Women’s Health Fund to priority areas within the Women’s Health Action Plan, Menopause, Endometriosis, Post-natal hubs, targeted support for marginalised women. The NWIHP Annual Report published last Tuesday 5th July showcases the depth and breadth of progress underway in the HSE on these issues. Further allocations from this fund are in process.
My intention is to develop the infrastructure for women’s health nationally so that we can reduce waiting times, support earlier diagnosis and improve care and treatment across the board.
We can see significant improvements already in a number of important areas of women’s health:
1. Menopause:
The majority of women who seek support for their menopause can be effectively supported within primary care by their GP, however, approximately 25% of symptomatic women will require specialist medical expertise in menopause.
These more complex cases will be dealt with in several specialist menopause clinics being developed around the country, in the following locations:
- National Maternity Hospital
- Nenagh General Hospital
- Cork
- Coombe
- University Hospital Galway
- Rotunda
- The first of the dedicated specialist menopause clinics opened in the National Maternity Hospital December 2021.
- The specialist menopause clinic within the University of Limerick Hospital Group is located in Nenagh General Hospital and the HSE has advised that this clinic opened in May of this year.
Clinics in Limerick, Cork and Galway will be developed as part of the maternity networks in the South-South West, University of Limerick, and Saolta Hospital Groups.
- We have accelerated the delivery of menopause clinics with a further ring-fenced investment of €2.5 million in April 2022 that will support two additional specialist menopause clinics, at the Coombe and the Rotunda
- This will result in a total of 6 such clinics nationwide, one in each maternity network, for women who require complex, specialist care.
Clinical teams within the specialist menopause clinic setting will also provide advice and guidance to GPs in the community to support the effective management of menopausal symptoms for women closer to home within primary care.
2. Endometriosis:
- As part of the work of the Women’s Health Taskforce, in April 2021, I announced the expansion of the endometriosis service at Tallaght University Hospital (TUH).
- This will deliver a specialist endometriosis centre for the management and treatment of all forms of endometriosis, with particular focus on advanced and complex cases for which there had previously been no ready access in Ireland.
- In addition, as part of this initial investment, services for the management of endometriosis at the Coombe hospital were also expanded.
Budget 2022 funding will enable the expansion of the endometriosis service at TUH as well as the establishment of a new service for more complex endometriosis cases at Cork University Maternity Hospital.
- This investment will result in 2 supra-regional specialist centres for complex care for endometriosis for the first-time.
- In April 2022, as part of a ring-fenced investment from the Women’s Health Fund, I announced funding for six additional interdisciplinary teams to support holistic treatment of endometriosis within each of the hospital networks. These multi-disciplinary teams will support secondary level care for women and complement supra-regional services for very complex care being established at Tallaght University Hospital and Cork University Maternity Hospital.
3. Gynaecology:
- My Department is working with the National Women & Infants Health Programme to improve access to gynaecology services, through the implementation of the Ambulatory Gynaecology Model of Care.
- This centres on the establishment of one-stop “see and treat” ambulatory gynaecology clinics.
- Roll out of the Ambulatory Gynaecology Model of Care began in 2020, and at present, 10 of these clinics are operational. This includes the new clinics at the Rotunda, Cork, Galway, Letterkenny, Waterford, - Wexford and Nenagh which are all operational, as well as the expansion of pre-existing ambulatory gynaecology clinics at the Coombe, National Maternity Hospital (NMH), and Mayo.
- Work is continuing in relation to recruitment, refurbishment and equipping of the remaining ambulatory gynaecology clinics that were funded in 2021.
- Funding has been provided under Budget 2022 which will facilitate the establishment of additional ambulatory gynaecology clinics at the last six hospital sites.
- This will bring the total number of these clinics to 20 nationally.
4. Fertility:
- Phase One of the roll-out of the Model of Care for Infertility has involved the establishment, at secondary care level, of Regional Fertility Hubs, in order to facilitate the management of, according to NWIHP, an estimated 50%-70% of patients presenting with infertility issues at this level of intervention.
- The completion of Phase One of the roll-out, envisaged before the end of this year, will result in six fully operational Regional Fertility Hubs, one in each of the maternity networks / Hospital Groups across the country.
- Phase Two of the roll-out of the model of care will see the introduction of tertiary infertility services, including IVF, in the public health system.
5. Maternity strategy:
- Government is allocating €8.66 million to the Maternity Strategy this year, on top of €7.3m allocated in 2021. This is the single biggest investment in the Strategy since its publication in 2016 (in 2020, for example, €1.5 million was allocated).
- The funding provided in 2021 allows for further development of community midwifery as well as specialist services. It is enabling us to expand breastfeeding supports, strengthen training and education supports for staff.
- The funding allocated for 2022 will enable the continued implementation of the National Maternity Strategy and will permit the recruitment of additional WTEs into maternity services across the country, including Consultants, Midwifery/Nursing posts, Allied Health workers, Healthcare Assistants and Administrative staff.
- These posts will cover a variety of disciplines, including, obstetrics, neonatology, endocrinology, anaesthetics, dietetics, midwifery, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy.
- The investment in 2022 will also improve the infrastructure of our maternity services by providing additional home-from-home birthing suites, upgrades to theatres and wards, as well as additional training and supports for our maternity staff.
- As part of the Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23, this Government has committed to improving the health outcomes and experiences of women, with a targeted focus on marginalised women. In delivering on this commitment, I have allocated significant investment in 2022 for additional medical social work resources across the six maternity networks, significantly enhancing this support at what can be a very vulnerable time for these women.
6. 2022 Waiting List Action Plan:
I launched the 2022 Waiting List Action Plan on 25 February this year following extensive engagement between the Department, HSE and NTPF.
The Plan contains 45 actions to reduce and reform waiting lists across four main areas of work: delivering capacity, reforming scheduled care, enabling scheduled care reform, and addressing community care access and waiting lists. The Plan will also progress work towards achieving maximum waiting time targets, moving towards intermediate targets this year of 12 months for a hospital procedure and 18 months for an outpatient appointment.
As part of the Plan, €15m has been dedicated to reducing waiting lists in three priority areas, including gynaecology (in addition to paediatric orthopaedics and bariatrics / obesity).
The 2022 Waiting List Fund will enable the expansion of ambulatory gynaecology care in Tallaght, will provide access to additional theatre capacity for gynaecology activity in the Coombe, and will provide additional inpatient / day case capacity at CUMH through increased theatre sessions.
Implementation of the Plan is being governed by a Waiting List Task Force, co-chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Health and CEO of the HSE.
www.gov.ie/en/publication/323b5-the-2022-waiting-list-action-plan/.
1104. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which dental patients can have their requirements met and progressed as quickly as possible with particular reference to medical card holders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38107/22]
View answerThe Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) provides dental care free of charge to medical card holders aged 16 and over. Services available annually include an examination, two fillings and emergency extractions. More complex care and a broader range of treatments for patients with special needs and high-risk patients is also provided, some of which requires prior approval.
I have been concerned for some time that medical card patients in some parts of the country have been experiencing problems in accessing dental services.
To help address this issue, an additional €10 million in Budget 2022 was secured to provide for expanded dental health care for medical card holders including the reintroduction of Scale and Polish. In addition, an estimated €16 million of an underspend in this year’s estimate allocation (€56 million) is being used to award fee increases across a number of items including fillings.
The combination of these two measures represents an estimated total additional investment of €26 million in the Scheme this year over and above what was spent on the Scheme in 2021, €40 million.
Following consultation with the Irish Dental Association, these new measures came into effect on 1st May. I would hope that this significant additional investment in the Scheme will encourage more and more dentists to treat medical card patients.
These measures are designed to address immediate concerns with the DTSS, pending a more substantive reform of the Scheme. It is my intention that this is addressed in the context of the implementation of the National Oral Health Policy, which sets out a body of substantial services reform. Work is underway on a governance framework for this root and branch service reform. The Chief Dental Officer is engaging with stakeholders and I understand that she will meet shortly with the Irish Dental Association.
I have been assured by the HSE that their local services on the ground will assist any persons who are still experiencing problems in accessing a service.
1105. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which he foresees an adequate supply of hospital beds and access to accident and emergency departments throughout the winter months notwithstanding the persistent threat of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38108/22]
View answerInvestment of €1.1bn was provided in budget 2021 to expand capacity, increases services and support reform and this level of investment has been maintained in budget 2022. 854 general acute beds have been added to the system since 1 Jan 2020 and a further 300 are funded for delivery over the remainder of 2022 and 2023.
Access to emergency departments was available to those who needed it throughout the pandemic and it will continue to be this coming winter.
I have personally witnessed the challenging conditions for patients and staff in emergency departments during recent hospital visits. I have requested that the HSE set out short-term immediate actions to alleviate the pressure on EDs and ensure that our hospitals are ready for winter.
I also requested the development of a longer-term plan for reform and improvement of unscheduled care, in line with expected increases in demand driven by population growth and an aging population. This plan will build on the substantial investment over the past two years in initiatives such as additional capacity, more staff, increased home care packages and greater GP access to diagnostics.
My Department and the HSE will continue to work together to develop a programme with a suite of longer-term actions to deliver systemic change to how unscheduled care is delivered.
1106. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the number and location of existing primary care facilities throughout County Kildare, those already operational and those promised or pending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38109/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1107. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the total number of children currently awaiting orthodontic treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38110/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1108. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which women’s health specifically remains central to the provision and delivery of a reliable level and quality of health services in all areas throughout Ireland without exception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38111/22]
View answer1109. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the ongoing efforts underway to enhance the quality and scale of community and institutional mental health services, with particular reference to the need to achieve quality of service in line with the requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38112/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1110. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the steps that he is taking to recruit recent psychology graduates for roles in children’s disability network teams. [38116/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1111. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the steps that he is taking to encourage psychologists who are Irish nationals working in other jurisdictions to take up roles in children’s disability network teams. [38117/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1112. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No 573 of 23 June 2020, the number of adults with an intellectual disability residing in acute or long-stay psychiatric settings in CHO4 between January 2016 and June 2022, in tabular form; the basis on which this information on unidentified service-users could constitute a breach of their GDPR rights, as suggested in the response; his views on whether it is the right of such persons with disabilities who are misplaced, sometimes indefinitely, in the psychiatric system to be accounted for in healthcare data; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38118/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1113. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the basis on which HSE posts (details supplied) were competed for through local interview and not the nationally agreed recruitment panel process that applies to posts for these care groups; if the HSE's national recruitment service sanctioned the process involved in these appointments; if so, the national recruitment service personnel that sanctioned same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38119/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy, as soon as possible..
1114. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 666 of 1 March, 840 of 5 April, 308 of 18 May and 234 of 22 June 2022, the way that fairness and transparency could be attributed to a process of expressions of interest in appointments by transfer of mental health psychologists in CHO4 (details supplied); his views on whether these public appointments took place in a manner that was not covered by HR policy and circumvented relevant national recruitment panels and therefore imposed disadvantage on candidates ranked on those recruitment panels who would have expressed an interest in the posts in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38120/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1115. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 825 and 826 of 1 February 2022 and 1091 of 22 March and 310 of 18 May 2022, the precise specialisms in adult mental health psychology; the exact criteria referred to in the response which are eligible for a bypassing of the national recruitment panel system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38121/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1116. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 825 and 826 of 1 February 2022, 1091 of March 2022 and 310 of 18 May 2022, if particular specialisms in adult mental health psychology have been agreed to by the HSE national human resources department and trade unions as constituting exceptions to the national recruitment panel system for HSE psychologists; if so, if he will name these specialties; if he will provide a reference for the signing off on these details by trade unions and the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38122/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1117. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 842 of 5 April 2022, 308 of 18 May 2022 and 233 of June 2022, the percentage of appointments to senior psychologist posts in the adult mental health services in CHO4 between August 2017 and January 2021 that took place via unadvertised transfers; the exact service locations and the dates of each of these appointments; the reason that this information was not already provided in Parliamentary Question No. 233 of 22 June 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38123/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1118. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health his views on the degree to which Parliamentary Questions on matters relating to the Cork mental health services are not being answered and have to be resubmitted repeatedly; and the recourse Deputies have in cases in which Parliamentary Questions are repeatedly not answered. [38124/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1119. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Health the status of his Department’s engagement with the National Suicide Prevention Office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38137/22]
View answerThe National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) was established within the HSE in 2005 to drive the implementation of national policy on suicide reduction. As with all HSE services, engagement between the Department and NOSP continues on a regular basis.
NOSP is responsible for implementation of Connecting for Life, Ireland’s National Strategy to Reduce Suicide 2015-2024. The strategy mandates NOSP to support, inform, coordinate and monitor the implementation of Connecting for Life across the HSE, government departments, statutory agencies and non-governmental organisations. This is overseen by a Cross-Sectoral Implementation and Monitoring Steering Group, chaired by the Department of Health at Assistant Secretary level. NOSP reports to the Steering Group through its quarterly meetings. To support the Steering Group, the Department, Chair and NOSP regularly liaise in preparation for the meetings and to update on implementation of the Strategy.
In addition, NOSP provides regular briefs on mental health and suicide related issues, including through its Annual Reports and bi-annual report on CSO suicide statistics. NOSP supports the Department and its Ministers in reporting on its activities to the Oireachtas as required. Minister Butler most recently met with NOSP on 22nd June to discuss issues relevant to the work of NOSP.
NOSP’s annual budget is around €13 million, of which over 50% is given in grants to national organisations and frontline services working in the area of suicide prevention and mental health promotion. NOSP is also responsible for delivery of national suicide awareness training programmes, which is available to Departmental staff through engagement with NOSP’s Education and Training unit.
NOSP was represented on the Oversight Group, which provided a report to the Department of Health setting out current and future service priorities for consideration by government in the development of the current national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision.
1120. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Health the status of the transfer of operations to the new national forensic mental health service in Portrane; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38138/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1121. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide the attendance figures for all Greyhound Racing Ireland licensed greyhound tracks; the breakdown of attendance types (details supplied) for each individual track by month in each of the years 2017 to 2021, in tabular form. [36978/22]
View answerRásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ) is a commercial state body, established under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958 chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. RCÉ is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The question raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for RCÉ and, therefore, the question has been referred to the body for direct reply.
1122. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the annual afforestation target of 8,000 ha is consistent with the advice of an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36987/22]
View answerThe COFORD Council is a stakeholder platform which advises my Department on issues related to the development of the forest sector in Ireland. In its recent report ‘Forests and wood products, and its importance in climate change mitigation’ COFORD advised that 16,000 ha of annual afforestation is required if Ireland is to achieve the government target of 18% forest cover by 2050.
The current Forestry Programme which commenced in 2015 and has been extended to the end of 2022 provides significant supports for afforestation. This includes grants and premiums for 12 different planting categories to promote a good species mix and covers 100% of the cost of establishing a forest.
As the Deputy may be aware, afforestation levels have been declining in recent years and Project Woodland was established in February 2021 to ensure that a new impetus is brought to woodland creation in Ireland. A national shared vision for the future of Ireland's trees and forests and a new Forestry Strategy are currently being developed. This new Forest Strategy will underpin a new Forestry Programme for the period 2023 - 2027. Supports will be included in the next Forestry Programme to incentivise afforestation. I am committed to working with all our stakeholders to substantially increase our afforestation rates over the next decade.
The Climate Action Plan 2021 provides a detailed plan for taking decisive action to achieve a 51% reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and setting Ireland on a path to reach net-zero emissions by no later than 2050.
An annual afforestation target of 8,000 hectares is outlined in the Plan. However, afforestation is a voluntary land use choice for landowners. Any target that is set must be realistic and we have set an ambitious target which is a significant step up from existing levels achieved in recent years.
1123. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of private meetings that he or his junior Minister with responsibility for forestry had with Coillte in 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36988/22]
View answerI and Minister of State Hackett have had meetings with Coillte over the course of 2021 and 2022. These meeting range from in person and virtual. This is line with engagements with other state agencies under the ageis of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Minister McConalogue had engagements on the following dates:
10/2/2021
7/5/2021
8/7/2021
13/1/2022
Minister of State Pippa Hackett, who has overall responsbility for the sector, has had engagements on the following dates:
12/2/2021
18/7/2021
12/4/2021
7/5/2021
31/5/2021
13/8/2021
22/11/2021
24/11/2021
13/01/2022
27/01/2022
