Written Answers Nos. 562-576
562. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Health the status of the case of a person (details supplied) who is awaiting an operation at Croom Orthopaedic Hospital, Limerick and has not received an appointment date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29078/23]
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.
563. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 604 of 16 May 2023, the reason for the removal of the service; if there is an intention to replace the service; if not, where else the service might be available; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29079/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
564. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Health if he will work with the EU to extend the EU Cross-Border Health Directive (2014) to all residents of Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29081/23]
View answerThe EU Cross Border Directive (CBD) 2011/24/EU enables persons resident in the State to access and be reimbursed for healthcare in another EU/EEA Member State by the HSE, provided such healthcare is publicly available within Ireland. As a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the provisions of the EU Cross Border Directive no longer apply to the UK, including Northern Ireland.
Separately, the Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme has been in effective operation since 1 January 2021. This Scheme was introduced to mitigate the loss of access to care from private providers in Northern Ireland under the EU Cross Border Directive, which ceased to apply as a result of Brexit. The Northern Ireland Planned Healthcare Scheme enables persons resident in the State to access and be reimbursed for private healthcare in Northern Ireland by the HSE, provided such healthcare is publicly available within Ireland.
565. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health if targeted international recruitment with an agreed relocation allowance is taking place to fill vacant therapist roles in primary care services; if not, if there are plans to do so; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29083/23]
View answerAs this is an administrative matter for the Health Service Executive, the HSE has been asked to reply directly to the Deputy.
566. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Health under the Public Service Pay and Pension Act 2017, if he will engage with an organisation (details supplied) as a matter of urgency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29087/23]
View answer568. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he and his Department will actively engage with community pharmacists regarding the review of dispensing fees in advance of the upcoming 30 June 2023 deadline; if he will fully consider the introduction of a flat fee model of care of reimbursement of €6.50 per medicine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29092/23]
View answer570. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he will actively engage with the community pharmacy sector to ensure that the highly complex nature and operation of community pharmacy schemes is recognised and that community pharmacists are reimbursed appropriately; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29094/23]
View answer571. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health to take the necessary steps to ensure that community pharmacists achieve pay parity with other health care workers, who have seen their pay increased on average by 14% per hour; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29095/23]
View answer572. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he and his Department will actively engage with community pharmacists to begin contract discussions with them, as was pledged under the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29096/23]
View answer619. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on the review of community pharmacies services. [29175/23]
View answer629. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Health if he will restore the pay of community pharmacists by restoring dispensing fees, by granting pay parity with other healthcare workers and by recognising the administrative burdens faced by community pharmacists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29199/23]
View answer641. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Health if he will examine restoring rates for community based pharmacies as per the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29256/23]
View answer654. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health for clarification on a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29321/23]
View answer665. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health what discussions he has had with Government colleagues regarding a campaign (details supplied) for the restoration of community pharmacy pay. [29377/23]
View answer675. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health if he has engaged with community pharmacies or with an organisation (details supplied) to conduct a review of their services under Public Pay and Pension Act 2017 legislation; when this review will take place; if he is aware of the huge increase in business costs wages and overheads since cuts were imposed during the recession in 2009; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29419/23]
View answer682. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will give urgent and detailed consideration to a number of healthcare issues raised by a national representative organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29456/23]
View answer688. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health if he will address a matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29577/23]
View answer719. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will consider increasing the pharmacy dispensing fee from €6 to €6.50 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29703/23]
View answer720. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health if he plans to meet with an organisation (details supplied) before the review of the nature of community pharmacies services, which is due to take place before the end of June; if he plans to review the current dispensing fee model for community pharmacies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29704/23]
View answer723. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Health his plans to engage with an organisation (details supplied) to review the nature of community pharmacies’ services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29771/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 566, 568, 570 to 572, inclusive, 619, 629, 641, 654, 665, 675, 682, 688, 719, 720 and 723 together.
I 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 healthcare service reform.
In that regard, various approaches to extending the scope of practice of community pharmacists are being progressed by my Department. The implementation of these necessitates engagement with a range of stakeholders and full consideration of all the relevant legislative and operational issues involved.
The regulations governing the pharmacy fee structure are set out in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (No. 34 of 2017) and in S.I. No. 639 of 2019, the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (Payments to Community Pharmacy Contractors) Regulations 2019, which put the current fee structure in place, with effect from 1 January 2020.
Under Section 42(14) of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 the current pharmacy fee structure must be reviewed every third year after 2020. My Department is currently carrying out a review and Department officials have arranged to meet with the Irish Pharmacy Union in that regard.
I believe that there is a real opportunity to work collaboratively with community pharmacists, and with other healthcare providers, to make a significant difference to patient outcomes. Of course, any publicly funded pharmacy service expansion should address unmet public healthcare needs, improve access to existing public health services, and provide better value for money.
567. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of an appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29091/23]
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.
569. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the steps he will take to ensure that the restoration of community pharmacists pay is in line with public service pay agreements, prior to FEMPI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29093/23]
View answer683. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he has considered the need to review fees to pharmacists which were cut under FEMPI; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29461/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 569 and 683 together.
Under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation, payments to pharmacy contractors were restructured in 2009, 2011 and 2013, under:
• S.I. No. 246/2009 - Health Professionals (Reduction of Payments to Community Pharmacy Contractors) Regulations 2009.
• S.I. No. 300/2011 - Health Professionals (Reduction of Payments to Community Pharmacy Contractors) Regulations 2011.
• S.I. No. 279/2013 - Health Professionals (Reduction of Payments to Community Pharmacy Contractors) Regulations 2013.
Among other things, dispensing fees moved from a mixture of professional fees and retail mark-ups to an increased standard fee which was reduced on a sliding scale based on the number of items dispensed in a month, as follows:
• €5.00 for the first 1,667 items each month,
• €4.50 for the next 833 items, and,
• €3.50 for any remaining items.
The regulations governing the pharmacy fee structure that were made under section 9 of the FEMPI Act 2009 expired at the end of 2019. Under the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017, these regulations had to be replaced by 1 January 2020 in order to maintain a statutory basis for contractor payments and to prescribe the fees payable from that date.
The current pharmacy fee structure was put in place by the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (Payments to Community Pharmacy Contractors) Regulations 2019 – S.I. 639 of 2019 – which came into effect from 1 January 2020.
Since then, the overall spend on fees paid to community pharmacists under the community drug schemes has continued to rise year-on-year. The Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) online system shows fees paid to pharmacies under the community drug schemes in 2019 of €420.9 million, rising to €468 million in 2022. The State has also paid for additional services provided by community pharmacists. For example, in 2022:
• €22.51 million in respect of COVID-19 vaccination fees were paid to pharmacists. Broken down this was €16.47 million in respect of vaccination fees, plus €6.04 million in administration fees.
• €7.55 million was paid to community pharmacists for administering flu vaccinations.
• €4.32 million was paid to community pharmacists for participating in the contraception scheme which launched in September 2022.
The State paid just over €502m in fees to community pharmacists in 2022. This demonstrates the substantial investment made by the Government to keep pace with the increased activity across the community drug schemes and to ensure that community pharmacies are remunerated for the services they provide on behalf of the State.
Under Section 42(14) of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 the pharmacy fee structure must be reviewed every third year after 2020. My Department is currently carrying out a review and Department officials have arranged to meet with the Irish Pharmacy Union in that regard.
Of course, any publicly funded pharmacy service expansion should address unmet public healthcare needs, improve access to existing public health services, and provide better value for money.
573. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive an appointment. [29097/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
574. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO1; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29101/23]
View answer575. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO2; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29102/23]
View answer576. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO3; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29103/23]
View answer577. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO4; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29104/23]
View answer578. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO5; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29105/23]
View answer579. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO6; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29106/23]
View answer580. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO7; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29107/23]
View answer581. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO8; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29108/23]
View answer582. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting a psychology appointment in CHO9; the breakdown of the time they have been on the waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29109/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 574 to 582, inclusive, together.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
