Written Answers Nos. 1743-1758
1743. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health if occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and physiotherapists are included on the critical skills list for recruitment outside of the European Union; the date that these professions were added to the critical skills list; if any other health and social care professions were added to the critical skills list in the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40218/22]
View answerIreland’s employment permits system is managed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. It is designed to attract highly skilled workers from outside the EEA to Ireland, to meet skills demand in the economy where those skills can’t be accessed through the resident labour force, in the short to medium term. This objective must be balanced by the need to ensure that there are no suitably qualified Irish/EEA nationals available to undertake the work and that the shortage is a genuine one.
The system is vacancy led and managed through the operation of the Critical Skills and Ineligible Occupations Lists which determine employments that are either in high demand or are ineligible for an employment permit where it is evidenced that there is more than sufficient availability of those skills in the domestic and EEA labour market.
The Deputy will be happy to hear that on Monday, 20 June 2022, Damien English TD, Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, announced changes made by S.I. to the employment permits system which included adding the occupations of Pharmacist, Cardiac Physiologist; Medical Scientist; Occupational Therapist; Physiotherapist; Podiatrist/Chiropodist; Psychologist and Speech & Language Therapist to the Critical Skills Occupations List.
This means these jobs are now eligible for a Critical Skills Employment Permit which will allow for the recruitment of these medical and therapy professionals from outside of the European Union.
1745. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of any private consultancy companies contracted to carry out a review of the services related to patient flow in University Hospital Limerick, Cork University Hospital, University Hospital Kerry and University Hospital Galway, respectively, in 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022; the value of each contract; if he will provide a report on the outputs from each review and changes implemented as a result; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40222/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1746. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Health the performance of University Hospital Limerick, Cork University Hospital, University Hospital Kerry and University Hospital Galway relating to patient flow; the improvements, if any, made in same; the reduction in distress caused to patients and families, if any, due to long trolley waits pursuant to reviews into same carried out by consultancy companies; the value-for-money provided by said reviews; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40223/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1747. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the reason that bowel screening in Ireland is restricted to the 60 years to 69 years age range while other countries like Scotland with a similar health profile screen between the ages of 50 years and 74 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40224/22]
View answerI am fully committed to supporting our population screening programmes which are a valuable part of our health service, enabling early treatment and care for many people, and improving the overall health of our population.
The age range eligibility for our cancer screening programmes have been set in line with international criteria for screening programmes, based on the best international evidence.
The BowelScreen programme currently invites men and women aged 60 to 69 for bowel screening. The Programme for Government commits to extend eligibility in BowelScreen to those aged 55–74 years, in line with the National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 and international processes and best practice. The HSE is planning for this expansion.
Any decisions about changes to the screening programmes, such as further widening the age eligibility, will be made on the advice of our National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC). This independent expert group, which was established in 2019, considers and assesses evidence in a robust and transparent manner, and against internationally accepted criteria. It is important we have rigorous processes in place to ensure our screening programmes are effective, quality assured and operating to safe standards, and that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.
The NSAC held its first Annual Call for proposals for new screening programmes or changes to our existing programmes in 2021. Following consideration of proposals related to the BowelScreen programme, the NSAC has asked HIQA to look at the evidence for further expansion (beyond the expansion already committed to) of the age range eligibility for BowelScreen.
It is important to remind that screening is for healthy people without symptoms, and I would advise anyone to take up their invitation for screening when they receive it. If anyone becomes aware of symptoms, or if they have concerns or worries, they should contact their GP who will arrange appropriate follow-up care.
1748. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the measures that his Department and-or the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland are taking about the chronic shortage of community pharmacists in Ireland; the average number of European Union and third country applicants for each year; and the success rate of applicants in passing the English language competency examination. [40225/22]
View answerI understand that currently there are reports of a current workforce issue, particularly in relation to community pharmacy. The Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI) has been liaising with stakeholders, including the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), on efforts being taken within the sector to understand and address the issue. In February 2022, PSI met with a number of superintendent pharmacists and the IPU. The PSI also circulated a survey on behalf of the IPU to all registrants to support efforts to understand and address the issue in the short term. The fieldwork on the research was undertaken online by the IPU between 22 March and 8 April 2022. The results of which have just been finalised and recommendations have been prepared by the IPU based on their findings. The report is currently under review by the Department of Health who will continue to liaise with relevant stakeholders on this matter.
In developing its Corporate Strategy 2021-2023, the PSI was aware, through its role as the pharmacy regulator as well as through reports from stakeholders, of an increasing risk to the continued availability of a pharmacist workforce. This highlighted a need to focus on community and hospital pharmacy, with a concern being that the issue might be exacerbated into the future. The PSI are currently undertaking a project, due to run across 2022-’23, titled ‘Emerging Risks to the Future Pharmacy Workforce’. This project is set to “assess emerging risks to the continued availability of a professional pharmacy workforce within community and hospital pharmacy in Ireland”.
This is a complex problem with many contributing factors and multiple stakeholders. Workforce challenges are being experienced in other sectors nationally, and in the community pharmacy sector in a range of other countries. However, robust data for Ireland is needed to be able to determine the current landscape, assess future health system needs and understand existing sectoral challenges now and into the future. It will be on the basis of gathering and analysing this up-to-date, robust and relevant data, that recommendations can be proposed to address Ireland’s needs as our healthcare system evolves, and in the context of Sláintecare implementation.
For any applicant from the EU or a Third Country wishing to register with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI – the Pharmacy Regulator), the first step in the process is to apply to have their qualification recognised as being suitable for registration.
Table 1 at the link, sets out the number of qualification recognition applications received by the PSI from both EU and Third Country applicants since 2020.
Language competence is assessed at point of registration application. With regards to the success rate of applicants in passing the English language competency exam, it must be noted that the PSI does not set a specific exam and therefore are unable to respond on the success rate on the various tests that are available to applicants to complete.
The PSI Council currently accepts the following criteria as being satisfactory to assure language competence:
- (a) a certificate issued by an internationally recognised body or authority, recognised by the PSI Council, attesting that the holder has attained a standard of competence in the English or Irish language sufficient to enable him or her to safely communicate with, and to treat, patients and to generally discharge his or her obligations as a pharmacist in the State or
- (b) Training to become a qualified pharmacist has been carried out in a country that has English or Irish recognised as an official language of that country or
- (c) The applicant has lived, and practised in a whole-time capacity as a registered pharmacist for three out of the preceding five years in country that has English or Irish recognised as an official language
The legislative basis for these language competence standards are derived from the Professional Qualifications Directive as implemented by the European Union (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2017, the Pharmacy Act 2007 (as amended) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (Registration) Rules 2008 to 2017.
Generally speaking, on criteria (a) above, applicants only submit an application when they have successfully met the minimum accepted scores for the recognised test that they have taken (details of recognised tests and minimum scores outlined here).
The PSI regularly reviews its language competency minimum standards and has recently (June 2022) completed another benchmarking exercise with reference to other healthcare regulators both in Ireland and abroad.
1749. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the concern among community pharmacists about the health and safety difficulties involved in the falsified medicines directive scanning of medicinal products prior to dispensing; the reason that the safety concerns of hospital pharmacists were taken on board but not those of community pharmacists (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40226/22]
View answerThe EU Falsified Medicines Directive (2011/62/EU) amended Directive 2001/83/EC and introduced harmonised European measures to fight medicine falsifications and ensure that medicines are safe and that the trade in medicines is rigorously controlled. Measures include
- Obligatory safety features – a unique identifier and an anti-tampering device - on the outer packaging of prescription medicines
- A common, EU-wide logo to identify the legal online suppliers of medicines (pharmacies and other retailers). The register for Ireland is maintained by the PSI, the pharmacy regulator.
- Tougher rules on import of active pharmaceutical ingredients
-Strengthened record-keeping requirements for wholesale distributors.
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/161, that supplements Directive 2001/83/EC, was adopted in 2016 and has applied in Ireland since 2019. This Delegated Regulation contains detailed rules for the safety features appearing on the packaging of medicinal products for human use, including scanning of the 2D barcode to authenticate the unique identifier and checking the integrity of the anti-tampering device. This legislation is legally binding and must be applied across all member states, including Ireland.
The Falsified Medicines Directive is part of a global move towards serialisation and traceability of medicines to protect the supply chain from falsified medicines and to harness the value of barcoding for other purposes to improve patient safety and business efficiency.
Pharmacies, hospitals and wholesalers in 29 countries are undertaking approximately 2.5 billion verification and decommissioning transactions per quarter across the entire European Medicines Verification System and there is no evidence to suggest that these high numbers of transactions are resulting in any patient safety issues. Scanning is well established in the ‘front of shop’ area of Irish community pharmacies but the requirement to scan prescription medicines in the pharmacy dispensary was new when it became law in February 2019. The ‘use and learn’ period that has been in place since then was designed in part to allow pharmacies to get used to scanning prescription medicines and work out to how build this extra step safely into their dispensing process.
1750. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health if he will list the number of payments in respect of the provision of a service (details supplied) for each of the years 2017 to date in 2022; when a contract was last awarded for the service after the completion of a tendering process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40255/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1751. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health the up-to-date position regarding charges for persons under the fair deal scheme in nursing homes (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40256/22]
View answerThe Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS), commonly referred to as Fair Deal, is a system of financial support for people who require long-term residential care. Participants contribute to the cost of their care according to their means while the State pays the balance of the cost. The NHSS covers the cost of the standard components of long-term residential care which are:
- Nursing and personal care appropriate to the level of care needs of the person
- Bed and board
- Basic aids and appliances necessary to assist a person with the activities of daily living
- Laundry service
A person's eligibility for other schemes, such as the medical card scheme or the drugs payment scheme, is unaffected by participation in the NHSS or residence in a nursing home. In determining the services covered by the NHSS it was considered very important that the care recipient and the taxpayer would be protected and would not end up paying for the same services twice.
Although the NHSS covers core living expenses, residents can still incur some costs in a nursing home, such as social programmes, newspapers or hairdressing. In recognition of this, anyone in receipt of financial support under the NHSS retains at least 20% of their income. The minimum amount that is retained is the equivalent of 20% of the State Pension (Non-Contributory). An operator should not seek payment from residents for items which are covered by the NHSS, the medical card or any other existing scheme.The Department of Health is currently reviewing the available evidence and considering various policy options with relation to nursing home charges.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is an independent statutory body with a dual mandate to enforce competition and consumer protection law in Ireland. CCPC’s mission is to promote competition and enhance consumer welfare. The CCPC has published consumer protection guidelines for contracts of care in long-term residential care services for older people. The guidelines set out the obligations and responsibilities that providers must adhere to under consumer protection law and are aimed at providing greater transparency, clarity and certainty for consumers.
1752. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health the status of a project (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40259/22]
View answerAs the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly in relation to this matter.
1753. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health the up-to-date position regarding a facility in a location (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40260/22]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1754. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health the status of a project (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40261/22]
View answerAs the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly in relation to this matter.
1755. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of developing an additional three dual-diagnosis teams in tabular form. [40268/22]
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.
1756. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent nurse vacancies at South Tipperary University Hospital; and when each of these vacancies will be filled in tabular form. [40269/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1757. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health the number of full-time podiatrists employed by the HSE in CHO 3 and CHO 5 in 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; and the locations in which these podiatrists are based. [40270/22]
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.
1758. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the annual cost of the contract that the HSE has entered into with a hospital in Alicante, Spain; the number of years that the contract is for; if there is a per treatment and operation cost; if so, the costs per treatment and operation; if there is an annual cost within the contract irrespective of the number of treatments and operations that are carried out; and if there is a break in the contract or a waiver on costs in cases in which the Spanish Government introduces travel restrictions from Ireland due to a future Covid-19 wave. [40280/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
