Written Answers Nos. 367-380
367. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the plans, if any, he has to roll out a regular medicine use review service through the pharmacies for the medical card, DPS and long-term-illness schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20137/23]
View answerI recognise the significant role community pharmacists play in the delivery of patient care and acknowledge the potential for this role to be developed further in the context of health service reform. Their participation in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme – the largest ever undertaken by the State – and in the recently launched free contraception scheme are examples of the importance of their role in the functioning of our health service.
Medicines are the most common healthcare intervention within the health system and the use and complexity of medicines are increasing. Pharmacists are the healthcare professionals optimally placed by virtue of their training to deliver on the critical role within the health system to ensure the rational use of medicines by patients.
I met recently with representatives of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) and various proposals regarding extending the scope of practice offered by community pharmacists were discussed. These are currently under consideration within the Department.
The focus of this scoping work is to increase capacity in the healthcare system overall, to deliver better healthcare outcomes, and to ensure that unintended negative consequences in other parts of the healthcare system do not arise. The implementation of any such proposals necessitates prior engagement with a range of stakeholders and full consideration of all the relevant legislative and operational issues involved.
The Department is open to exploring any evidence based appropriately governed services, delivered by appropriately trained professionals which will support the delivery of the right care, in the right place at the right time.
I believe that there is a real opportunity to work collaboratively, and with other healthcare providers, to make a significant difference to patient outcomes. I acknowledge that collaboration has proven effective in the recent past and I am confident it can continue to do so in the future.
368. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update and timeline for works to be carried out on side A of Abbeyleix Hospital to cater for discharges from Portlaoise Hospital; and the current position regarding the recruitment of staff, including a consultant geriatrician, for the unit. [20141/23]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
369. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health when a medical card will issue in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20171/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
370. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health when a medical card will issue in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20173/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
371. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a list of contracts his Department currently has with a company (details supplied); and the estimated value of those contracts. [20187/23]
View answerMy Department has no contracts in place with the company detailed.
372. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Health when subvention payments will be increased for nursing homes, particularly for smaller-scale nursing homes, in view of the substantial increase in costs over recent years in providing nursing-home care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20196/23]
View answerFunding to support people to access services in the sector continues to be provided in line with the long-established statutory mechanisms under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009. This is the mechanism established by the Oireachtas to provide for the processes relating to funding under the NHSS and the negotiation of prices for services for private and voluntary providers with the designated State agency, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). Maximum prices for individual nursing homes are agreed with the NTPF following negotiations and based on the NTPF’s cost criteria. These criteria include costs reasonably incurred by the nursing home, local market prices, historic prices and overall budgetary capacity. The NTPF carry out this role independently under the NHSS Act 2009. The NTPF has statutory independence, and there is no role for Ministers or the Department of Health in these negotiations. The Department of Health published a review of the NTPF pricing system in June 2021. A steering group has been established to oversee the delivery of the recommendations; this group has met on a regular basis since publication of the review and continues to work on taking these recommendations forward.In addition to the work being advanced by the NTPF pricing review, important strands of reform to the nursing home sector are also being, or have been, brought forward. The Government remains committed to delivering on the 86 recommendations of COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel, especially those recommendations related to long-term sectoral reform, the nine recommendations of the Value for Money Review on Nursing Home Costs and the 16 recommendations of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group on Home Carers and Nursing Home Health Care Assistants which I have fully endorsed. Work continues within the Department of Health to deliver on all of these recommendations, as well as analysis of the outcomes of the Skills Mix and Safe Staffing pilots which will inform future policy.The Government is committed to seeing greater public sector involvement in the residential care of older people in Ireland and to move over time towards a needs-based model of funding and pricing for the nursing home sector. It is essential that all future plans for the nursing home sector continue to prioritise the best interests of residents while seeking value for money for the Exchequer.Budget 2023 saw over €40 million in additional funding for the Nursing Home Support Scheme (NHSS) which has already provided for an uplift in the maximum prices chargeable by private and voluntary nursing homes, as negotiated.I encourage all eligible providers to avail of the €10m Temporary Inflation Payment Scheme (TIPS) announced last year, which covers up to 75% of year-on-year energy and heating cost increases in private and voluntary nursing homes up to a monthly cap of €5,250 per month per nursing home over the period of July to December 2022 (€31,500 per nursing home for 2022). This scheme was extended to the end of March 2023 and is currently under review.Since the start of the pandemic, private and voluntary nursing homes have received a wide range of non-financial supports, including over €74m in free PPE and oxygen, as well as over €149m of financial support through the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS). TAPS COVID-19 Outbreak Assistance will continue until the end of April 2023. The Government remains committed to ensuring that long-term residential care for older people continues to place residents’ care, wellbeing, standards and best interests at the centre of development.The Department of Health continues to engage with the NTPF to examine ways in which funding can also continue to be used to provide support, where necessary and appropriate, to those nursing homes who are not scheduled to renegotiate their Deeds of Agreement this year. Other options to support nursing homes are also being explored.
373. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health the average waiting time for admission to the National Rehabilitation Hospital, Dún Laoghaire; the measures he is taking to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20202/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
374. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science who funds workers (details supplied) at an organisation; if their pay comes from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20084/23]
View answerYouthreach is a national programme, offered by the 16 Education and Training Boards, which aims to provide young early school leavers with the knowledge, skills and confidence required to participate fully in society and progress to further education, training and employment. There is no national Youthreach bus service.
The non-pay funding SOLAS provides to the ETBs can be used to cover the cost of overheads for the running of a Youthreach centre such as rent, light, heat, materials, equipment, insurance etc as well as ancillary staff, other than administration staff. If an ETB or Youthreach Centre is employing staff as bus drivers, responsibility for the terms of employment rests with the individual ETB/ Youthreach Centre.
Learners can claim an allowance for the cost of travel to and from the Youthreach Centre where they live further than 5km from the Centre. These allowances range from €4.60 to €32.60 depending on distance involved. Budget 2023 also continued the Young Adult Leap Card where young adults can avail of half-price public transport fares.
375. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the steps he is taking to reform the student grant scheme. [20052/23]
View answerI instigated an independent review of the Student Grant Scheme which was published in 2022. The Funding the Future framework sets out my intention to implement a progressive range of measures to address costs as a barrier to education alongside improving core funding for higher education, in the context of overall Budgetary decision-making.
This will include progressive implementation of recommendations as set out in the Student Grant Review which. This review makes a number of recommendations on issues including rates of grant, income thresholds, eligibility criteria, part-time learning and postgraduate support.
I have already made a number of significant improvements to the Student Grant Scheme over the past two Budgets.
For the academic year 2022/23, I increased the income threshold to qualify for the standard rate of student grant by €1,000, all maintenance grant holders benefited from a grant increase of €200 and the qualifying distance criterion for students to qualify for the non-adjacent rate of grant was reduced from 45 km to 30 km.
I also announced a range of further measures to enhance the scheme as part of Budget 2023. Some of these cost-of-living measures commenced in 2022.
-As part of the Government's cost of living measures, every SUSI maintenance grant recipient received an additional once-off extra maintenance payment;
- All higher education students who are eligible for the fees initiative benefited from a once off reduction in the Student Contribution rate of €1,000 for the 2022/2023 academic year;
- PhD students funded by the SFI and the IRC benefited from a once off payment of €500 in the current academic year; and
- Post Graduate Students who met the eligibility criteria for a Postgraduate Fee Contribution Grant benefited from a once off increase in this grant of €1,000 from €3,500 to €4,500.
In addition, I increased all maintenance grants effective from January 2023 in order to provide further financial assistance to those students most in need. The special rate and Band 1 rate of maintenance increased by 14% and all other maintenance grant rates increased by 10%.
A further range of improvements to the Student Grant Scheme as announced in Budget 2023 will take effect for the 2023/24 academic year, including:
- An increase in income limit from €55,240 to €62,000 for the 50% student contribution grant;
- A new student contribution grant of €500 for eligible incomes between €62,000 and €100,000;
- An increase to the postgraduate fee grant by €500 on 2022 levels from €3,500 to €4,000;
- A reduction in the eligibility for second chance mature students from 5 to 3 years;
- Exclusion of up to €14,000 rental income earned under Rent-a-Room Relief Scheme, which has been declared to Revenue, from reckonable income;
- An increase in student earnings outside of term time from €4,500 to €6,552; and
- A greater degree of flexibility for students who may have a long term social welfare payment but are falling outside of the special rate (this will allow a small increase on the income threshold for the special rate if a family has 4 or more children and/or has two or more students in college).
As I did for the first time last year, it is my intention to publish a cost of education options paper which will set out options for further enhancement of student supports for consideration as part of the Budgetary process in the Autumn.
376. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide details of the funding that is going towards period poverty at third level; if he will provide a breakdown of that funding, in tabular form, as the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform has indicated that the funding of implementation measures for period poverty needs to be funded separately via each Department’s vote; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20102/23]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware from my reply to his recent parliamentary question that the Programme for Government contains a commitment to “provide a range of free, adequate, safe, and suitable period products in all educational publicly-funded settings (including schools, colleges and HEIs), to ensure that no students are disadvantaged in their education by period poverty.”
Last year, a pilot was rolled out to nine further education and training colleges across six Education and Training Boards (ETBs), at a cost of circa €17.5k. The pilot called ‘Worryfree’ delivered free, sustainable period products and dispensers for students in participating ETBs.
The Deputy will be aware that my department allocates recurrent funding to further and higher education institutions by way of a grant towards their ongoing running costs. Some ETBs and HEIs have piloted period poverty initiatives from their own resources. However, to date my Department has not provided any additional funding beyond that provided in 2022 for the Worryfree pilot.
My Department continues to actively engage with the Period Poverty Implementation Group established under the auspices of the Department of Health. As previously advised, a drawdown contract is being developed for the provision of period products in education establishments and other public institutions. It is anticipated that this new drawdown contract will be in place before the summer.
377. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide a list of contracts his Department currently has with a company (details supplied); and the estimated value of those contracts. [20186/23]
View answerMy Department currently has no contracts with J. Murphy & Sons Limited.
378. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide her response to a report (details supplied) from the Heritage Council's CTCHC Programme, Tipperary Town Revitalisation Task Force, and Tipperary County Council; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19955/23]
View answerThe Town Centre First Policy is a major cross-government policy that aims to tackle vacancy, combat dereliction and breathe new life into our town centres. It supports the Our Rural Future vision for a thriving rural Ireland which is integral to our national economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing and development.
A key aim of both the Town Centre First, and the Our Rural Future Policy is addressing vacancy and dereliction in rural towns and villages across the country, and ensuring that the policies and schemes in place directly address and tackle these issues. This complements other national policies such as Housing for All and the National Planning Framework which also aim at tackling vacancy in rural towns and villages as well as supporting local communities.
I am aware of the Collaborative Town Centre Health Check (CTCHC) report mentioned by the Deputy, and I understand that colleagues in the Department of Housing, who partner with my Department on the Town Centre First Policy, are involved with the Tipperary Town Revitalisation Taskforce.
As well as providing policy leadership, my Department is supporting the development of Town Centre First Plans under the policy. I approved funding of €2.6m in December 2021 for an initial phase of 26 towns across the country. These initial plans are due for completion in June this year and I also expect to announce a further call for towns to develop their Town Centre First Plans following their completion.
Although the Town centre First Plan initiative currently targets smaller towns, I would strongly encourage Local Authorities to consider developing Town Centre Plans for our larger towns, which will help identify potential projects which may be supported through available funding streams such as the Urban Regeneration Development Fund and LEADER funding.
My Department remains committed to the success of the Town Centre First policy to deliver on the goal of revitalising rural towns and villages as set out in Our Rural Future, and so we encourage local authorities to draw on the conclusions and recommendations of Town Centre Health Checks.
379. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the sources of funding available for an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20138/23]
View answerMy Department provides a range of supports which are available to Men's Sheds, depending on the works being completed.
Last November, I was delighted to announce funding of €800,000 to support Men’s Sheds throughout the country. The initiative will see grants of up to €2,000 provided to over 400 Men’s Sheds nationwide to assist them with running costs such as electricity or insurance bills.
The individual grants will be distributed to the over 400 Men’s Sheds via its representative body, the Irish Men’s Sheds Association (IMSA). Men’s Sheds should contact the IMSA for further details.
Some of my Department's programmes fund the purchase of capital equipment such as through the Community Enhancement Programme (CEP). This programme provides small grants to community groups to enhance facilities in disadvantaged areas.
The 2022 Community Support Fund (CSF) under the Community Enhancement Programme was launched in November 2022, with funding of €10 million to assist thousands of community groups across the country. The funding is administered on behalf of my Department locally by Local Community Development Committees (LCDCs) across the country, with support from their Local Authority.
Men's Sheds were eligible to apply for funding under the Community Support Fund. This Fund is now closed to applicants and it is hoped to run another Community Enhancement Programme later in 2023, however, details of this programme are not yet confirmed.
Further details on all of my Department schemes and funds can be found at www.gov.ie/drcd.
380. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if she will provide a list of contracts her Department currently has with a company (details supplied); and the estimated value of those contracts. [20191/23]
View answerI can confirm that my Department has no contracts with the company in question.
