Written Answers Nos. 2050-2065
2050. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of community paramedic projects per county for each of the years 2019 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; and if there are any forthcoming pilot projects. [41914/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2051. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of menopause clinics in each CHO area, in tabular form. [41915/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2052. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the actions being taken to increase hormone replacement therapy supplies. [41916/22]
View answerColleagues in the department and across the health sector continue to work to resolve the issues around supply of Hormone Replacement Therapies. On 19th May, I met with representatives of Marketing Authorisation Holders (MAHs) of products implicated in the recent HRT shortages, together with Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA), Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland (PSI), Health Service Executive, Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) representatives and clinical representative from the National Women and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP). An additional stakeholder meeting was held in June with representatives from the Department, HPRA and HSE to discuss and assess the supply of HRT medicines. My Department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders on this matter.
Based on information provided by companies involved in the recent HRT shortages, supply of HRT products has largely been restored. The MAH of one line of products has confirmed that its task force on HRT has reviewed the supply situation and in line with current increased trends, has ordered more product to be manufactured, with intermitted supply of this product available across all pack strengths. Full supply will be resolved across the various strengths between August and mid October. The HPRA continues to engage with the suppliers of HRT to obtain updates and remains open to regulatory flexibilities enabling supply of additional stock from other markets, where possible.
The Department plans to continue managing medicines shortages through the established multi-stakeholder medicines shortages framework that is coordinated by the HPRA. This framework was established to prevent, wherever possible, and manage medicines shortages.
2053. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the extent of the waiting list period for those on waiting lists for menopause clinics, in tabular form. [41917/22]
View answerThe first of the dedicated specialist menopause clinics opened in the National Maternity Hospital last December. A second clinic within the University of Limerick Hospital Group is located in the new Regional Women’s Health Hub at Nenagh General Hospital and opened in May 2022.
Budget 2022 funding will also facilitate the establishment of two additional such clinics, to be located in Cork and Galway, as part of the maternity networks in the South-South West and Saolta Hospital Groups. In addition, in April 2022, I announced funding through the Women’s Health Fund for two further specialist menopause clinics (at the Rotunda and the Coombe) to ensure that there is one such clinic in each maternity network. This will support equity of access for women across Ireland and bring the total number of these clinics nationally to six.
As the question regarding the waiting lists for these clinics is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2054. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of menopause specialists in Ireland. [41918/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
2055. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Health the measures that he will implement at an early date to address the shortage of General Practitioners, particularly in rural communities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41919/22]
View answerGPs are self-employed practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place of their own choosing. There is no prescribed ratio of GPs to patients and the State does not regulate the number of GPs that can set up in a town or community.
Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders. Currently there are 2,551 GPs contracted to provide services under the GMS Scheme.
The Government is aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice, including the limited access to GP services in certain areas, and has implemented a number of measures to improve recruitment and retention in general practice.
These measures include an increase in investment in general practice by approximately 40% (€210 million) between 2019 and 2023 under the terms of the 2019 GMS GP Agreement. The Agreement provides for increased support for GPs working in rural practices and for those working in disadvantaged urban areas. Improved family friendly arrangements are also provided under the GP Agreement, with an increase in the locum rate for maternity and paternity cover, and an increase in the paternity leave allowance from 3 days to 2 weeks. This is in recognition of the need to ensure that general practice is compatible with doctors’ family commitments.
The Agreement also includes a commitment to undertake a strategic review of GP services within the lifetime of the Agreement, to examine how best to ensure the provision of GP services in Ireland for the future. Preparatory work has commenced on this. The review will examine the broad range of issues affecting general practice and will set out measures necessary to deliver a sustainable service into the future. The outcome of this review will inform future contractual changes.
In addition, the number of GPs entering training has increased steadily over the past number of years, rising from 120 in 2009 to 258 places filled in 2022, with plans for further increases in future years.
Overall, these measures will see an increase in the number of GPs working in the State, improving access to GP services for patients throughout the country.
2056. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his engagement with farming, agriculture, and fishing organisations to ensure the Brexit impact loan scheme is accessible for small farmers and inshore fishers. [41746/22]
View answer2057. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps that he is taking to introduce greater flexibility for repayments in the Brexit impact loan scheme to make it more accessible for small farmers and inshore fishers. [41747/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 2056 and 2057 together.
Access to finance is a critical business need and as one of the main economic drivers of our national, rural and coastal economy, it is vital that the agrifood sector has access to appropriate financing.
My Department regularly engages with stakeholders with a view to ensuring the availability of appropriate finance to meet the needs of farmers, fishers and food businesses.
The €315m Brexit Impact Loan Scheme (BILS) was launched in October 2021 to provide support to businesses, including farmers, fishers and food businesses, impacted by Brexit. Funded by my Department and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, the BILS is supported by a counter-guarantee from the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group.
My Department's funding ensures that up to 40% of the Scheme's lending capacity is made available to the agrifood sector, which is particularly exposed to the impact of Brexit.
Launched in parallel with the closure of the existing Brexit Loan Scheme (BLS), the BILS has a number of advantages over its predecessor including its availability to farmers and fishers and longer loan terms of between one and six years.
It already has significant flexibilities, including providing for loans of €25,000 to €1,500,000, with loans up to €500,000 unsecured, serving the needs of those without collateral including young farmers and new entrants. Loans are available through multiple lenders including the main banks and some credit unions.
Loan interest rates vary between participating lenders, but are discounted from standard rates. In addition, the BILS has also recently been expanded to provide support for businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with the introduction of the COVID-19 Loan Scheme (CLS).
To date, 1,286 loans to the value of €161m have been sanctioned on the BILS of which 640 loans to the value of €51.5m are to farmers and 104 loans to the value of €18.3m are to food businesses. I believe this demonstrates that the terms of the Scheme are already sufficiently flexible as to be attractive to primary producers.
2058. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to engage with his counterparts in Northern Ireland in respect of the making of the State’s land commission records available in digital format in the context of the shared island initiative. [38844/22]
View answerMy Department's officials have and continue to liaise with the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), both in relation to the digitisation of former Irish Land Commission records and how best to make them accessible to members of the public, within the constraints imposed by the current legislative framework.
Officials from Records Branch have travelled to Belfast on two occasions to date, to learn from the work that has been done by PRONI to preserve the records and how they have managed access. As a result, my Department has recently instituted new policies on in-person visits to its facilities.
These actions did not take place as part of the shared island initiative. Rather, they were the result of ongoing engagement by officials with a number of other organisations to learn from their experience.
2059. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a grant is available for an agri-holding with no public water supply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39625/22]
View answerThere are a wide variety of items available under the suite of seven measures under TAMS II. However, grant funding for an agri-holding with no public water supply is not included.
To date, total expenditure under the seven measures of the TAMS, including transitional expenditure, has reached in excess of €373 million with commitments of an additional €94 million made to scheme participants who have yet to draw down those grants.
Some 50,594 applications have been approved under the scheme. All outstanding approvals issued represent potential outstanding liabilities for the Department and we must have a budget in place to pay these claims. As a result, it is not possible to consider adding additional items such as grants for an agri-holding with no public water supply to the comprehensive list of investment items already available under TAMS II.
2060. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department is considering a subsidy scheme similar to that introduced in France, to support the Irish fishing fleet in compensating for the increased price of fuel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39656/22]
View answerSince the publication of the Report of the Seafood Task Force - Navigating Change (October 2021), I have announced a number of support schemes for our fishing fleet and wider seafood sector and coastal communities.
Over October to December 2021, a Brexit Temporary Fleet Tie-up Scheme made available supports of €4,600 up to €88,700 per month depending on vessel size for vessels to tie-up for a calendar month. Vessels in the Rockall squid fishery could tie-up for two months at these rates. In total, some 179 vessels availed of this scheme at a cost of €10 million.
I introduced this tie-up scheme again in May and it will operate until November this year. To further assist the fishing fleet in these difficult times, I am allowing each vessel to receive aid for two months in 2022. Already, some 67 vessel owners received aid of €4.3 million for the month of June and a further 43 vessel owners received aid of €2.4 million for the month of July.
For the inshore fleet, a Brexit Inshore Fisheries Business Model Adjustment Scheme operated over January to March and was availed of by 771 inshore fishing vessel owners at a cost of €2.5 million. The scheme provided aid of €2,700 to owners of vessels under eight metres and €4,000 to owners of vessels of 8 to 18 metres. In addition, a Brexit Inshore Marketing Scheme is underway and is investing €600,000 in 2022 in promoting stocks of interest to inshore fishers to support prices at the quayside.
Separately, a €45 million Brexit Processing Capital Support Scheme is open for applications at
present, with the aim of supporting the seafood processing sector to engage in transformational change, mitigating the effects of Brexit, and assisting the sector to move further up the supply chain to produce higher value seafood products. Grants of up to 50% for capital investment are available.
For coastal communities, a €25 million Brexit Blue Economy Enterprise Development Scheme is open for applications and aims to counter the adverse economic and social consequences of Brexit on businesses operating in the blue economy in our coastal regions. The scheme offers aid of up to €200,000 for capital investments and also offers aid for training and mentoring.
Further support schemes are anticipated in coming months, including a voluntary decommissioning scheme, subject to State Aid clearance.
In relation to the impacts of increased energy costs arising from the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Government is acutely conscious of the impacts across the economy. I recognise that the seafood sector is facing particular challenges, arising from the combination of Brexit and increased energy costs.
On 6th July, I met with representatives of the fishing, aquaculture and processing sectors to discuss a number of important issues facing our seafood sector, including Brexit and increased energy costs. The meeting gave me the opportunity to engage directly with industry representatives and to hear first-hand their concerns and priorities. I will continue to engage with industry representatives on these priority matters.
2061. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if advice will be provided on the best way forward for farmer (details supplied) in respect of issues which occurred on their farm; if the case will be reviewed; and if the appropriate Department officials will contact the person directly. [39694/22]
View answerMy officials have engaged extensively with the named herdowner over many years.
The herdowner has had a number of meetings with my Department, most recently, in November 2019. As a result of the extensive engagement between my Department and the herdowner over a number of years, any further review of the TB outbreaks or other issue is not considered necessary.
At all times the Department has complied with all regulatory requirements with respect to the health and welfare of animals in this herd.
2062. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason that an organisation (details supplied) has been left out of the new beef forum; if he has requested a paid-up membership list from the organisation notwithstanding the fact that the organisation is a volunteer group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39752/22]
View answerThe Food Vision Beef and Sheep Group has been established to advance the actions for the beef and sheep sector identified in the Food Vision 2030 strategy, taking account of the requirement for the sectors to contribute to achieving the targets set for the agriculture and land use sector in the Climate Action Plan 2021.
I am satisfied that the existing composition of the group is appropriately representative of the sector. I have made my position in this regard clear to the organisation referred to by the Deputy.
2063. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on an emissions document published by an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39753/22]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that discussions are currently ongoing in relation to the setting of sectoral emissions ceilings for all sectors of the economy, not just agriculture. This is a matter for Government.
There are a number of factors that need to be considered in the establishment of a sectoral emissions ceiling for agriculture sector, and the IFA submission references a number of these. My position on this matter has been consistent in that any final sectoral ceiling that is established for the sector must be ambitious, but is also one allows for the continued production of the high quality food products that is appreciated in 180 countries all over the globe.
2064. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there are funding streams available specifically for poultry shows. [39789/22]
View answerThe Department engages annually with relevant representative organisations in supporting the annual farm shows calendar.
This is in recognition of the potential for such events in the agricultural calendar to contribute positively to both Ireland’s reputation as a destination of choice for such events, as well as broader economic and social benefits, including benefits to the rural economy and society.
The Department provides support through the relevant representative organisation, namely the Irish Shows Association (ISA), in terms of providing relevant funding. This funding is typically used to cover costs in respect of the nationwide show's calendar that the ISA organises. Engagement through a single representative organisation is in keeping with the principle of maximising value for money for the funding provided across a wide stakeholder group.
Any poultry owners participating in the Shows organised by the ISA will benefit from the funding provided to that organisation through my Department's contribution to cover their annual costs.
2065. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is willing to address the anomaly in which a person (details supplied) who worked in a semi-State body has no recognition in terms of pension of their years of work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39827/22]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that my Department does not now, nor has it ever in the past, held human resources records relating to any staff members in semi-state bodies, relating to their terms of employment, including pay and related aspects, including PRSI contributions.
