Written Answers Nos. 613-629
613. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health in relation to home care services as provided by the HSE, his Department’s policy with reference to outsourcing home care services; if there are plans to reduce the outsourcing of home care services; if there are plans to increase the staffing for home care services in the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46367/23]
View answerAs these are operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
614. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on the establishment of the HSE's Implementation Group to deliver on the operational recommendations in the Independent Review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 (details supplied); the members of this group; if terms of reference are in place; whether a copy can be made available to the public; the mechanism there will be for reporting on the progress of this group; the timeline this group will be working towards; the avenues that will be available to civil society to engage with this group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46670/23]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have referred to the HSE for answer.
615. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the engagements he has had with a person (details supplied) in relation to the recommendations in their extensive Independent Review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; if any future engagements are planned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46671/23]
View answerMarie O’Shea, BL was contracted by the Department of Health, to undertake a designated piece of work, namely the Review of the operation of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018. This work was completed and the final Report submitted to me as Minister at the end of February 2023. Following the submission of the final Report, I met with Ms. O Shea on 4th April 2023.
The final Report of the Review was considered by Cabinet at the end of April 2023. The Report made a range of recommendations, most of which are operational in nature with some proposing legislative change. The HSE has established, as agreed by the Government, an implementation group to progress the operational recommendations.
A draft implementation action plan has been developed containing a number of workstreams. The Implementation Group is Chaired by the National Women and Infants Health Programme, (NWIHP) Director.
The proposals recommending legislative changes have been referred to the Joint Committee on Health for consideration.
616. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 288 of 28 September 2023, when a response will issue from the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46673/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
617. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 573 of 10 October 2023, if the external review will include operations carried out on adults at Cappagh Hospital. [46676/23]
View answerIt is my understanding that as the independent external review is of the Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery Service it will not include operations carried out on adults. The draft Terms of Reference for the review are available here: www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/newsfeatures/tor-for-review-of-the-paediatric-orthopaedic-surgery-service-at-chi/
618. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health to detail the full service acute hospitals budget allocated at the beginning of 2023 to each of the nine ‘model 4’ hospitals nationally; the indicative and individual forecast overspend being guided by his Department for each of these hospitals up to 31 December 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46683/23]
View answerThe MDR for Q1 2023 is not yet published. HSE assign budgets to individual hospitals, we are referring this query to the HSE for a response.
619. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health the financial rewards his Department is planning to give to the budget of University Hospital Waterford in recognition for the five months' additional capacity management this hospital delivered while the emergency department of Wexford Hospital was closed due to fire damage (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46684/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
620. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health if any of the hospital group CEOs hold other remunerated positions (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46685/23]
View answer621. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health the oversight mechanism for approving hospital group CEO expenses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46686/23]
View answer622. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health the mechanisms that are in place to administer conflicts of interest for hospital group CEOs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46687/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 620 to 622, inclusive, together.
I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy on these matters, however, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently not in a position to answer PQs due to industrial action.
It is hoped that normal services will resume soon. In the meantime, this Department will continue to refer PQs to HSE for their direct reply as soon as possible.
623. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Health the reason patients waiting for gynaecology outpatients are being advised that “due to the increased demand for gynaecology services at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, waiting time routine appointments may exceed 52 weeks”; and what plans the HSE and the hospital have to resolve these waiting lists (details supplied). [46704/23]
View answerIt is recognised that waiting times for many scheduled appointments and procedures were too long before and have been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Department of Health continues to work with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to identify ways to improve access to care.
The 2023 Waiting List Action Plan builds on the foundational work done in the 2021 and 2022 plans, both of which reversed the annual trend of rising waiting lists.
For 2023, funding totalling €443 million is being allocated to tackle Waiting Lists with €363 million of this being allocated to the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, to reduce hospital waiting lists by implementing longer term reforms and providing additional public and private activity to clear backlogs exacerbated during the pandemic. The remaining €80 million of the €443 million is being targeted at various measures to alleviate community/primary care waiting lists. The Deputy may wish to note that Gynaecology is included as a priority area under the plan.
With the funding from Budget 2024 (€407 million), we are taking the next steps in the multi-annual approach towards achieving the vision of a world-class public healthcare system in which everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it, in line with Sláintecare reforms.
In relation to gynaecology outpatient appointments at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, the National Treatment Purchase Fund has advised that funding for an insourcing outpatient initiative has been approved to help address the long waiting time for an appointment.
Under 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.
624. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Health if he is concerned that children’s health may be compromised due to the lack of staff in Limekiln Lane Health Centre, the Old County Road health centre and Curlew Road health centre, Dublin 12 (details supplied); the staff level rates and vacancy rates in these three centres; how many staff have been recruited since May 2023; and how many staff have left, in tabular form. [46716/23]
View answerAs this Parliamentary Question relates to an operational issue, it is a matter for the HSE. However, members of the Oireachtas are advised that the HSE is currently not in a position to answer PQs due to industrial action. It is hoped that normal services will resume soon. In the meantime, this Department will continue to refer PQs to HSE for their direct reply as soon as possible.
625. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost for 2023 and 2024 of delivering pay parity between section 38 and section 39 staff, contracted by his Department through section 39 organisations. [46718/23]
View answerNo costings are available on the matter of pay parity. It is worth noting that Section 39 and Section 56 organisations are not public bodies, and the terms and conditions of employment for staff in these organisations are ultimately between the employer and the employee.
Officials from Department of Health, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the HSE and Tusla attended a WRC process (16 October 2023) following similar engagements with trade unions representing section 39 and section 56 bodies over recent months. Following productive engagements at WRC, Industrial action that was due to commence on the 17th of October was averted.
The process culminated in an offer being made to the trade unions. The Departments have committed to a significant increase of investment in the sector relating to pay amounting to an 8% increase, phased as:
3% from 1 April 2023
Additional 2% from 1 Nov 2023
And further 3% from 1 March 2024.
Departments have also committed to talks after any future public sector agreement.
The Departments have proactively engaged with the WRC process to ensure the stability and sustainability of services for the benefit of those who rely on these essential services and the workers who are committed to providing quality services.
The agreement, which unions have indicated will be put to their members, proposes an 8% increase in pay, delivered in three phases, with the first phase backdated to the 1st April 2023. The full year cost of the pay increases is €85.6m.
Although we are not the employers, the Departments are aware that staff employed across the hundreds of funded organisations have been employed using a multiplicity of terms and conditions, including different rates of remuneration and are dependent on Government for funding.
626. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of spending allocated for mental health in the CHO1 region on a per-capita basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46725/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly as soon as possible.
627. Deputy Denise Mitchell asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the reason the increase of €4,000 in the PhD stipend is only available to SFI and IRC candidates; if there is any intention to extend this to all PhD candidates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46070/23]
View answer631. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he is satisfied that the exclusion of Government-funded non SFI/IRC PhD researchers from the increase in stipend funding to €22,000 complies with all relevant employment and equality legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46214/23]
View answer632. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will ask individual Government Department agencies and bodies who fund PhD research outside the SFI/IRC programme to finance increases in PhD stipends to provide equality with their SFI/IRC counterparts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46215/23]
View answer639. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will provide more information on the reason the increase for PhD research funding only applies to those being funded by the Science Foundation of Ireland and the Irish Research Council; if, in the interest of equality, he will expand these increases to apply to all PhD researchers with recognised funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46291/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 627, 631, 632 and 639 together.
Since becoming Minister, I have introduced a number of changes to support PhD researchers.
The first one was to address the discrepancy between the stipend paid to PhD researchers for the Irish Research Council (IRC) and those of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI). Then, in Budget 2023, the stipend was increased by €500 for both SFI and IRC researchers to €19,000.
Under Budget 2024, I have secured funding to increase the PhD stipend provided by the competitive funding agencies under my Department – SFI and the IRC to €22,000 per student per annum for their approximately 3,000 stipend awardees.
This is an increase of approximately 16% and ensures for example that Ireland pays its PhD researchers funded by my Department's competitive funding agencies more than those funded by similar agencies in the United Kingdom.
In their first report of the National Review of State Supports for PhD Researchers that I commissioned in November 2022, the Co-Chairs recommended an increase towards an optimum stipend level of €25,000. However, the report did stress this was subject to funding availability and cognisant of the impact of any stipend change on public finances.
As outlined above, I have succeeded in significantly and consistently increasing the stipend provided by my Department's agencies. There are also approximately 2,000 PhD students who receive varying levels of scholarship support from their host higher education institution. This is primarily financed through the core funding provided to the sector for which I secured an additional €60 million in Budget 2024, again building on the increase secured in Budget 2023. How that core funding is allocated is a matter for each autonomous institution and I understand that they will be reflecting on this issue shortly.
It is estimated that in the region of 1,000 PhD students receive stipends from other public sources, such as Departments and Agencies, as well as Horizon Europe (the European Union's main research funding programme). The level of funding provided are a matter for those other public funders.
I will continue to seek additional funding to support PhD researchers under my Department's remit, including as part of the upcoming work on revisions to future National Development Plan allocations.
In respect of employment legislation, PhD students are not classified as employees. Their status is an important element of the independent review that I commissioned and one for which the Co-Chairs sought additional time to consider, given its complexity. They have now submitted their final review report which will be published shortly, and an 18-month work programme to implement appropriate recommendations is under development by my Department. It is important to note here that this will also require consideration by other Departments.
628. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science if he will re-examine the rules pertaining to traineeships at ETB centres, specifically to allow school-levers enrolling on such courses to access the training allowance without being bound by the rule that states they must have been in receipt of a social welfare payment; if he agrees that his rule is very prohibitive and sends out the wrong message about work and training; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46073/23]
View answerTraineeships are full-time programmes, between 6 and 20 months, offering occupation-specific training combining formal classroom training and workplace coaching. They are open to all potential participants, of all ages and backgrounds, and are free of charge to participants. Trainees may include school leavers, older learners, those in employment and those who are unemployed.
To qualify for a training allowance while pursuing a Traineeship programme, a person must have been in receipt of a qualifying social welfare payment. The Indecon Review of the Student Grant Scheme noted the range of student supports in the FET system, via the SUSI PLC grants for those on PLC courses and via the ETB training allowances based on a learner’s previous social welfare entitlement depending for a range of other courses, as well as the VTOS and BTEA schemes where learners retain their social welfare entitlements while pursuing certain courses. The Review recommended that consideration be giving to streamlining the system of financial supports available to students in FET and Higher Education. As a first phase of such an approach, it recommended a review and streamlining of financial supports available to FET students.
Against this background, provision is made in Budget 2024 to provide for the removal of PLC fees across the ETB sector, with effect from September 2024. This will ensure a consistency of support for learners and school leavers across the country and remove financial barriers to participation.
As noted in my Department’s options paper on the cost of higher education, published earlier this year, it is proposed to commence a review of the financial supports available to FET learners as recommended in the Indecon Review.
629. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science the number of PhD researchers funded through Government departments or public bodies or agencies under the auspices of those departments but are outside the SFI/IRC funding schemes; and the number of such students funded by each department. [46166/23]
View answerIn November 2022, I appointed Dr Andrea Johnson and Mr David Cagney to undertake an independent National Review of State Supports for PhD Researchers. This is the first time that State supports for PhD students have been considered holistically in this manner.
The Co-Chairs’ first review report which was published in June 2023 notes that, of the approximately 10,000 PhD students currently enrolled across the higher education sector, half are supported by my Department: 3,000 securing competitively awarded stipends from Science Foundation Ireland and the Irish Research Council, with the other 2,000 in receipt of scholarship support from their host higher education institution.
According to the latest Higher Education on Research and Development (HERD) Survey, roughly 4,000 enrol on PhD programmes with the use of private funding sources. The remaining approximately 1,000 PhD enrolments are in receipt of funding from a variety of other public sources such as Departments and Agencies, as well as Horizon Europe (the European Union's main research funding programme).
The numbers supported and the level of funding provided are a matter for those other public funders, and a breakdown of numbers in that regard is not held by my Department.
