Written Answers Nos. 728-750
728. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health the date on which he received the working group review of accident and emergency and acute services at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan; the meetings or discussions he has held regarding this review since receiving it, and attendance at same; the date on which the review will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59500/22]
View answerOur Lady’s Hospital Navan is one of nine designated Model 2 Hospitals under the Smaller Hospitals’ Framework which was approved by Government in 2013. Navan is the last of those hospitals identified for reconfiguration to Model 2.
As the Deputy will be aware, the HSE has proposed a process of planned service changes at Navan and has advised that these changes are necessary to support safe service delivery on a sustained basis and are driven first and foremost by patient safety considerations.
While recognising the very real clinical concerns identified, the Government is clear that several important issues, including additional capacity in other hospitals impacted and the continued ability of people in the Navan area to access emergency and urgent care, would need to be fully addressed before any proposed transition by the HSE.
For this reason, I have asked the HSE to undertake a review of capacity. The review was received on the 8th of October. This review is currently under consideration and engagement with the HSE in relation to this matter is ongoing.
729. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the average daily running cost of an in-patient hospital bed in a model 1, 2, 3 and model 4 hospital respectively based on data from the HSE Healthcare Pricing Office; the total number across the acute hospital beds in each category concerned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59502/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
730. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the number of persons availing of private health insurance by age group (details supplied). [59503/22]
View answerAs of the 1 July 2022, 46.4% of the Irish population or 2.4 million people are estimated to have private health insurance. This includes persons insured by the three open market undertakings and restricted membership undertakings. Restricted membership undertakings provide insurance to people who are members of a particular group, normally a vocational group or employees of a particular organisation and their dependants e.g. The Garda Medical Aid and Prison Officers Medical Aid.
The table below provides a breakdown of the private health insurance market membership as of 1 July 2022 by age group – this table excludes persons insured by restricted membership undertakings and so there is a difference between the breakdown given below and the total number estimated to have private health insurance. The number of insured persons in the health insurance market (excluding restricted membership undertakings) increased by 3% in the period 1 July 2021 to 1 July 2022, from 2,226,235 at 1 July 2021 to 2,293,838 at 1 July 2022.
|
Age Group |
Number of insured persons of 1 July 2022 |
|
Aged 17 and under |
516,816 |
|
Aged 18 to age 29 |
283,577 |
|
Aged 30 to age 39 |
297,097 |
|
Aged 40 to age 49 |
365,326 |
|
Aged 50 to age 54 |
161,967 |
|
Aged 55 to age 59 |
149,095 |
|
Aged 60 to age 64 |
135,478 |
|
Aged 65 to age 69 |
121,337 |
|
Aged 70 to age 74 |
102,413 |
|
Aged 75 to age 79 |
78,618 |
|
Aged 80 to age 84 |
47,401 |
|
Aged 85 and over |
34,713 |
|
Total |
2,293,838 |
731. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Donegal will be transferred from Sligo University Hospital to Beaumont Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59504/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
732. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the average daily cost of a nursing home bed under the NTPF in the public and private sector respectively, inclusive of patient charges; the average cost to the Exchequer of a private nursing home bed contracted to the NTPF; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59505/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly as soon as possible.
733. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the arrangements that will be in place, if any, to offer significantly reduced or free car parking in the National Children's Hospital for families bringing children to hospital for frequent or prolonged stays; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59512/22]
View answerAccess to the children's hospital at the St James's campus is well served by public transport, however the plans and design for the hospital recognise the need of families to access the hospital by car.
The plans for the hospital provide for 1,000 car parking spaces, of which 675 will be dedicated for use by families, three times the number of spaces currently available at the three Dublin children's hospitals combined. The car park will be located in the basement of the new children’s hospital.
I am cognisant of the financial implications of parking costs for patients and their families, particularly for those with long-term illnesses.
The Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, makes a commitment to introducing a maximum daily car parking charge for patients and visitors at all hospitals, where possible, and to introduce flexible passes in all public hospitals for patients and their families.
This commitment is informing the procurement process for the car park operator at the New Children’s Hospital.
734. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health if a ban on flavours, other than tobacco, will be included in the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59513/22]
View answerThere has been an EU wide ban on flavoured tobacco cigarettes since 20 May 2016 under the Tobacco Products Directive (Directive 2014/40/EU). The exception to this deadline was the case of products with more than a 3% market share, such as menthol flavoured cigarettes. In the case of those products, the ban came into effect on 20 May 2020.
A ban on flavours in relation to nicotine inhaling products is not included in the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill.
The Tobacco Products Directive already heavily regulates nicotine inhaling products and the Bill will prohibit their sale to persons under 18 and introduce a licensing system for the retail sale of nicotine inhaling products. In addition. on 22 November this year, Government approval was received to add further measures on nicotine inhaling products to the Bill. Under the new proposals, the sale of nicotine inhaling products will be prohibited from self-service vending machines, from temporary or mobile premises and at places or events for children. In addition, advertisements for nicotine inhaling products will be prohibited on public transport, in cinemas and near schools.
735. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health when the National Skin Cancer Prevention Plan for 2023 onwards will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59514/22]
View answerThe National Skin Cancer Prevention Plan 2023-2026 is currently being developed by the HSE's National Cancer Control Programme. I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
737. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the number of annual inpatient cases that attended the Mater Hospital for cancer services in the years 2019 to 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59516/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
738. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the number of annual inpatient cases that attended Beaumont Hospital for cancer services in the years 2019 to 2021, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59517/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
739. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in processing funding for nursing home support scheme applications following the award of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59521/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly as soon as possible.
740. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) can expect a hospital appointment. [59522/22]
View answerUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.
In 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.
741. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the steps that he is taking to improve the approach to women's healthcare in GP practices, particularly training in respect of menopause; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59559/22]
View answer742. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the percentage of the population with private health insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59560/22]
View answerAs of the end of June 2022, 46.4% of the population or 2.4 million people are estimated to have private health insurance.
743. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the status of the quality assurance process in the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital in respect of laboratory services for cervical screening; the engagements that he has had with the hospital regarding the issue of non-compliance, as referred to in Review of the Implementation of Recommendations of the Scoping Inquiry into the CervicalCheck Screening Programme (details supplied); the current non-compliance issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59563/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
744. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the engagements that he has had with the Medical Council regarding recommendation 33 of the Scoping Inquiry into the CervicalCheck Screening Programme (details supplied), published in September 2018; the reason that this recommendation has not been implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59564/22]
View answer745. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will investigate claims that clinicians were refusing to treat patients with any association to a group (details supplied) as outlined in the Review of the Implementation of Recommendations of the Scoping Inquiry into the CervicalCheck Screening Programme; if he will immediately engage with the Medical Council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59565/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 744 and 745 together.
The Programme for Government commits to “fully implement the recommendations contained in Dr Scally’s Report of the Scoping Inquiry, and all other reports into CervicalCheck”.
There were 170 actions in the Implementation Plan arising from Dr Scally's 58 recommendations, and these are now completed. There is further work ongoing which is integrated and mainstreamed into the usual and ongoing work programmes, governance structures and oversight reporting mechanisms in the Department, HSE and relevant bodies including the Medical Council.
Recommendation 33 was that "The Department of Health should enter into discussions with the Medical Council with the aim of strengthening the guide for registered medical practitioners so that it is placed beyond doubt that doctors much promote and practice open disclosure".
The action was marked as complete by the Department at the end of 2021, as the Department, through its ongoing engagement with the Medical Council, had received assurance that the guidance for registered medical practitioners was being reviewed and updated, and this work was in the Medical Council's business plan for 2022.
The Medical Council advise that their Guide for Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners is in the process of undergoing an extensive, scheduled review and has involved extensive public and stakeholder consultation and consideration of submissions. The recommendations from Dr Scally have been specifically considered by the Ethics Committee as part of this review, and the 9th edition of the Guide is due for publication in 2023.
The Medical Council is the independent regulatory body for doctors, it has a statutory role in protecting the public by promoting the highest professional standards amongst doctors practising in the Republic of Ireland. The Medical Council acts in the public interest, and can impose restrictions on a doctor’s registration, which would restrict or remove their right to practise medicine in Ireland.
Anyone can make a complaint to the Medical Council this includes members of the public, employers and other healthcare professionals. The Medical Council have advised that there are extremely limited grounds for a doctor to refuse to treat a patient and membership of a patient advocacy organisation is not one. The work of patient advocacy groups like 221+ Group, with whom the Medical Council has met, and many others, are vital to supporting patients, raising awareness, seeking change and improvements in our health systems. Patient advocacy groups play a vital role in our health system and should be supported in their work by all those involved in healthcare delivery and policy. Information on complaint options, the grounds of complaints the Council investigates, and how to make a complaint is available on the Medical Council website at medicalcouncil.ie.
746. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the number of home help staff currently available to work in each area of CHO4, including a breakdown of the numbers employed on a full-time or part-time basis. [59570/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly as soon as possible.
747. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health when the review of the Health Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018 will be published. [59571/22]
View answerThe Minister for Health commenced the Review of the operation Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 in line with statutory and Government commitments. The Review is assessing the effectiveness of the operation of the legislation and will be conducted in a fair and transparent manner.
The Review is being led by an independent Chair Marie O’Shea and comprises of 2 main phases. As part of the first phase of the review, information, and evidence on the operation of the Act has been collected from women who use the service, and from health professionals that provide the service; the views of and the public were also sought.
A very substantial amount of work has been completed and very informative data collected that is feeding into the Review.
As the review is reaching its final stages unfortunately there has been a slight set back on the completion date due to the Chair being unwell in November. The Chair is also awaiting key research from a study, CORALE, being carried out at Trinity College Dublin, that is examining Section 22 of the Act regarding conscientious objection. This research is underway, with input from lawyers, hospital doctors, GPs and strategic managers. The data will inform the Review. However, this data will not be available until January 2023. The opinion of the Chair is that this data is vitally important, given that it will assist in understanding how section 22 is operating.
The Review will be made available to the Minister no later than the 7 February 2023.
748. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Health the names of all companies supplying private security and cleaning services in his Department, including the cost of private cleaning in his Department, the cost of private security in his Department; the number of private cleaners supplied to his Department to provide these duties as part of these contracts, and the number of private security personnel supplied to his Department on foot of these contracts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59734/22]
View answerThe following table outlines the requested information.
|
Service |
Company Name |
2020 Cost (€) |
2020 Numbers Supplied |
2021 Cost (€) |
2021 Numbers Supplied |
2022 Cost to date (€) |
2022 Numbers Supplied |
|
Cleaning |
Clarus |
226,320 |
6 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Security |
G4S |
55,030 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
|
Cleaning |
OCS |
42,899 |
9 |
183,300 |
9 |
152,556 |
9 |
|
Security |
OCS |
14,259 |
1 |
58,368 |
1 |
48,640 |
1 |
These figures reflect increased cleaning and sanitisation in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As numbers varied slightly in response to the requirements of the pandemic, the table reflects the agreed contractual levels. Following a procurement process, the cleaning and security contracts were replaced by a single contract in Q4, 2020.
749. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a schedule of the employment status in the Civil Service of each civilian driver who has been replaced by an official Garda driver in his Ministerial driver corps; if VER payments have issued; and if any cases have been presented to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, to date on foot of the changes. [59770/22]
View answerIn January 2022, two Garda Drivers were assigned to Department of Health to replace the services of the Civilian Drivers assigned to Minister Donnelly following a security review recommendation from the Garda Commissioner to the Minister for Justice.
Severance arrangements were in place as well the option for as potential redeployment as Temporary Clerical Officers in the civil service.
We cannot comment on the individual employment status of the Civilian Drivers who were replaced.
750. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if previous forestry can be used for the new ACRES scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58698/22]
View answerThe Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) is the agri-environment climate measure under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023 – 2027.
There are two approaches available to farmers under ACRES, namely the ACRES General approach or the ACRES Co-operation approach depending on the location of their holding, with the eligibility for each outlined in the Scheme Terms and Conditions available on my Department’s website at 'gov.ie - Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) (www.gov.ie)'.Access to ACRES General is structured around a hierarchy of three tiers, with Tier 1 receiving priority over Tier 2 and Tier 2 over Tier 3. If a farmer is a participant in the Native Woodland Establishment Scheme or Forestry Grant Premium Category (GPC) 11 – Agro-forestry by the closing date for applications under relevant Tranche of ACRES, he/she may be eligible for Tier 2 priority entry to the ACRES General approach. In this way, certain forestry may assist a farmer in gaining entry to the Scheme. To qualify on this basis, the farmer must, however, be a participant in those schemes (that is, be still in receipt of premiums) by the closing date for applications under relevant Tranche of ACRES.As stated in Section 8.12 of the ACRES Terms and Conditions, “Except for Barn Owl boxes, the parcel selected on which a General Action is to be delivered must have an MEA/eligible hectare greater than zero in year of application”. An ‘MEA’ is the maximum area within a digitised parcel that can be claimed under the Basic Payment Scheme/ Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) Scheme, while an ‘Eligible Hectare’ is an agricultural area with an agricultural activity and land that is at the farmer’s disposal. ACRES is therefore only payable on land under agriculture.
