Written Answers Nos. 1698-1711
1698. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on the establishment of a mental health advocacy service for Traveller mental health; the estimated cost of this service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1406/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
1699. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on Traveller specific mental health awareness campaigns; the level of engagement his Department has had with local Traveller groups for these campaigns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1407/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
1700. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the steps his Department has taken to encourage Traveller employment within primary and specialist community services; what training is available for Travellers to upskill within these services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1408/24]
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.
1701. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health if cultural therapies on mental health have been developed for the Traveller community; if the Department of Health and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media have considered developing equine therapies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1409/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
1702. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health what cross departmental work has been carried out to address the root causes of the mental health crisis in the Traveller community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1410/24]
View answerThe Traveller Health Action Plan was launched in November 2022. The Department of Health and the HSE are committed to developing priorities, strategies and actions on Traveller mental health within the framework of the National Traveller Health Action Plan. These will respond to acknowledged needs in Traveller mental health and address the social determinants of Traveller mental health through targeted and mainstreaming measures. The Action Plan is a landmark document that recognises the right of Travellers to the highest attainable standard of health as is the norm in Irish society. It includes both mental and physical health, which are intricately linked.
As a first step, the Traveller Health Action Plan contains of six actions on Traveller mental health. These are being delivered through the HSE national service plan for 2023, supported by an additional ring-fenced budget of €300,000. This will enable the employment of 7 community support workers within the Traveller projects to focus on engaging the community with existing mental health supports, identifying gaps and consulting on future service developments. The actions reflect the priority status of Travellers in the Government mental health policies - Sharing the Vision and Connecting for Life, and will be reported upon as part of the Sharing the Vision Implementation Plan 2022 - 2024. Progress will also be monitored under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy.
The Department and the HSE will also engage with the Traveller community to further develop and expand the actions as part of a mental health priority plan, within the framework of the Traveller health action plan. The newly established HSE steering group on Traveller mental health will consult with Traveller organisations and representatives on this task. Traveller representatives have also been invited to be part of the group.
I welcome the increased focus in the area of Traveller mental health and I look forward to the progression of this workstream. Budget 2024 provided new funding to enhance Suicide Prevention and Postvention Services through the expansion of Suicide Bereavement Liaison Service; and for the Traveller Counselling Service, which will have national coverage for the first time. The details of this are the subject of on-going discussions in the context of agreeing the the HSE Service Plan overall for next year, including for Mental Health.
1703. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health to give an update on the implementation of culturally sensitive mental health services, as recommended in A Vision for Change; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1411/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
1704. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Health when a child (details supplied) who suffers from severe eczema and allergies will have their case referred to University Hospital Galway. [1422/24]
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.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6th October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
1705. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Health what transport is available to patients with medical cards who regularly have to travel to appointments outside their own county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1423/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1706. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Health how a child (details supplied) can access a general practitioner to receive care, and for their parents to have the medical section on an application for disability allowance signed by a GP as they are unable to access a GP in the Tralee area for their child; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1427/24]
View answerGPs are private practitioners, most of whom hold a GMS contract with the HSE for the provision of medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders.
Where a GMS patient, a person that holds a medical card or GP visit card, experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept them as a patient, the person concerned having unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area (or fewer if there are fewer GPs in the area) can apply to the HSE National Medical Card Unit which has the power to assign a GMS patient to a GP's GMS patient list, in accordance with the GMS contract. Likewise, a parent on behalf of a child GMS patient who experiences difficulty in finding a GP that will accept their child as a patient can apply to the HSE National Medical Card Unit also.
People who do not hold a medical card or GP visit card access GP services on a private basis and can make enquiries directly to any GP practice they wish to register with. As private practitioners, it is a matter for each individual GP to decide whether to accept additional private patients. Neither my department nor the HSE have any role in assigning patients who do not hold a medical card or a GP visit card to a GP's patient list.
The Government has undertaken several measures to increase GP capacity and improved access to services. Increased annual investment of over €211 million was provided for under the 2019 GP Agreement, providing for increased GP fees, supports and new services. A further €30 million has been provided for under the GP Agreement 2023 for practice supports to expand and retain practice staff.
The annual intake of doctors into the GP training programme has been increased by 80% from 2015 to 2023; there were 286 new entrants to GP training in 2023 and it is planned to increase the number of places for new entrants to 350 for this year. Furthermore, the joint HSE ICGP non-EU Rural GP Programme commenced last year with the intention of bring up to 100 non-EU GPs to Ireland in 2023, and it is planned to bring up to 250 more non-EU GPs here by the end of this year.
The requirements for the submission of a medical report from a registered medical practitioner as part of an application for disability allowance is governed by the Department of Social Protection. The completion of such medical certificates is not a service provided for under the GMS scheme. Section 11 of the GMS contract stipulates that fees in respect of certain medical certificates which may be required, for example, "under the Social Welfare Acts or for the purposes of insurance or assurance policies or for the issue of driving licences" are not covered by the contract.
1707. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE nurses working in the accident and emergency department of Mullingar Regional Hospital as of 5 January 2024; and if he will provide same figures as of 5 January 2021, in tabular form. [1470/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1708. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of children who had presented at Children's Health Ireland emergency departments in 2023, by hospital, who were subsequently discharged to no fixed address, in tabular form. [1472/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly. Due to ongoing industrial action, the data requested may not be currently available for the full period requested
1709. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on counselling and psychotherapy registration through CORU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1489/24]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the Health and Social Care Professionals Council and Registration Boards, collectively known as CORU, are responsible for protecting the public by promoting high standards of professional conduct, education, training, and competence amongst the professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act (2005).
Each profession designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act has its own independent registration board with statutory responsibility for:
• Establishing and maintaining the register of members for that profession;
• Recognising qualifications gained outside the State;
• Approving and monitoring education and training programmes for entry to the register;
• Setting the code of professional conduct and ethics giving guidance to professionals on Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
The Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board (CPRB) was established in February 2019. Its membership comprises practitioners, representatives from education and training, and lay members, which ensures there is a broad range of voices and perspectives shaping the design of standards and criteria. The work of the CPRB includes consideration of the titles to be protected and the minimum qualifications to be required of existing practitioners and the qualifications that will be required for future graduates. The work of the CPRB is significantly more challenging than it is for registration boards for some of the more established professions owing to the different and complex pathways into these professions, the variety of titles used, and the variety and number of courses and course providers.
The CPRB undertook an extensive research process which informed the drafting of standards and criteria. This included a review of contemporary evidence-informed academic literature, an examination of comparator international professional standards, and understanding the contemporary practice of the profession in Ireland. Key stakeholders, including the public (through a public consultation process), were also part of the drafting process.
Throughout the course of 2022 and 2023, the CPRB drafted threshold level standards of knowledge, skills and professional behaviour – its Standards of Proficiency – and the systems and processes that education providers must have in place to ensure consistent and effective delivery of graduates who have achieved the Standards of Proficiency – its Criteria for Education and Training Programmes. Two sets of these requirements were drafted: one for counsellors and one for psychotherapists representing the first attempt to establish distinct standards for each profession in Ireland and the first effort to standardise threshold level education and training requirements for entry to each profession.
The public consultation on the draft Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes ran for 12 weeks from 4 September until 1st December 2023. As part of this consultation, the CPRB encouraged feedback from all stakeholders, including members of the professions, education providers, employers, professional and representative bodies, as well as members of the public. The public consultation is the mechanism through which professional bodies, as well as other stakeholders, are given an opportunity to provide their views on the draft standards.
I am informed that the CPRB will consider all submissions very carefully in formalising Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for the psychotherapy profession. CORU, on behalf of the CPRB, will brief my Department on the outcome of the public consultation in due course.
1710. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health for an update on psychology registration through CORU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1490/24]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, CORU is Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator. CORU’s role is to protect the public by regulating the health and social care professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended), including setting the standards that health and social care professionals must meet to be eligible for registration and maintaining registers of persons who meet those standards.
Seventeen health and social care professions are designated for regulation by CORU. There are currently registers open for twelve professions and CORU is continuing the substantial work required to open the registers for the remaining designated professions of Psychologists; Counsellors and Psychotherapists; Clinical Biochemists; and Orthoptists.
The Psychologists Registration Board (PSRB) was established in 2017. The work of the PSRB includes consideration of the titles to be protected, the minimum qualifications to be required of existing practitioners, the qualifications that will be required for future graduates, and drafting the Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes.
Regulating a new profession is a complex and lengthy process, requiring careful consideration and preparatory work to ensure that it is effective in protecting the public. Psychology has been a uniquely challenging profession to regulate due to the diversity of its specialisms (for example clinical psychology, counselling psychology, occupational and work psychology, sports and performance psychology) and the fact that there is no common education pathway or standards for entry to the profession.
In 2020 a public consultation on the draft Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes developed for the profession revealed significant issues and a lack of consensus on how to proceed with regulation. Key areas of disagreement among the profession are around the minimum level of qualification required for entry to the profession, the number of placement hours, and the appropriateness of practice placement settings.
Having reached an impasse, CORU wrote to me on behalf of the PSRB in September 2021 seeking guidance on how to proceed. Having considered the matter with due regard to the complexity of this profession, its diverse specialisms (including non-health and social care specialisms), the lack of consensus among the profession on how to proceed, and risks to the public of delays in opening a register, I wrote to CORU in August 2022 requesting that the PSRB consider a dual-stream and phased approach to regulating the profession. This approach will allow the PSRB to prioritise regulating the psychology specialisms which present the greatest risk to public safety, while simultaneously continuing to work towards the long-term objective of protecting the title of ‘psychologist’.
CORU wrote to wrote to me on 3 March 2023 with the PSRB’s recommendations on which specialisms should be prioritised for regulation, using an evidence and risk-based methodology. I have accepted the PSRB’s recommendations to prioritise regulation of clinical, counselling, and educational psychology. On 24 April 2023 I wrote to CORU requesting the PSRB to proceed to immediately regulate these three specialisms, while progressing work to protect the title of psychologist in parallel.
The PSRB has now commenced its work to establish the education and training standards for entry to each of these three specialist divisions, and to identify technical legislative amendments required to enable the opening of these divisions of the register. In parallel, an Expert Advisory Group has been convened by CORU to examine and make recommendations on a regulatory model that will facilitate regulation of the psychology profession. This includes international regulatory and professional experts. The Expert Advisory Group is working towards making recommendations to me by March 2024.
Owing to the significant body of preparatory work that the PSRB are required to undertake, it is not possible to say with any degree of accuracy when the profession of psychologist will be fully regulated. I would anticipate that the registration board will require a number of years to complete its work.
CORU, the PSRB, and my Department are fully committed to delivering regulation of this very important profession through protection of the title of ‘psychologist’.
1711. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite the provision of home help services for a person (details supplied). [1503/24]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
