Parliamentary questions

Labour Court Recommendations

Michael McGrath

21. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Health his plans regarding the continuing refusal of the Health Service Executive to provide contracts to persons employed as home helps; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48945/12]

Orthodontic Services Waiting Lists

Mick Wallace

22. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the periods of time children are waiting to receive orthodontic treatment; his views on whether it is unacceptable that applicants from May 2009 are only being processed now; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48753/12]

Labour Court Recommendations

John Halligan

23. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Health his plans to ensure that there are standard contracts with detailed terms and conditions for workers in the home help sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41676/12]

Nursing Home Accommodation

Pádraig MacLochlainn

24. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health in view of the fact that 1,201 public nursing home beds have been closed between January 2011 and August 2012, the current total number of nursing home beds in the State; the number public and the number private; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48964/12]

Hospital Staff

Dara Calleary

25. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Health the extent of staff shortages in acute hospitals; if the bill for agency staff in acute hospitals has reduced; the other alternatives to agency staff that are being used; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48924/12]

Animal Welfare Issues

Clare Daly

26. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if he will agree to animal welfare advice not to directly transpose a loophole in the ban on inflicting severe and prolonged pain on animals in experiments, article 55.3 of the animal experimentation directive, and instead require the passage of secondary legislation for the licensing of such high levels of harm [48751/12]

Universal Health Insurance Provision

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

27. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health if he will set out his revised timetable for the promised roll-out of free general practitioners care, beginning with long-term illness patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48974/12]

Mental Health Services Provision

Robert Troy

28. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health the action he has taken to develop mental health services for young persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46715/12]

Accident and Emergency Services Provision

Eamonn Maloney

29. Deputy Eamonn Maloney asked the Minister for Health if, following civil disturbances at a concert (details supplied), the promoter has reimbursed the Connolly and Mater hospitals, Dublin, for the costs incurred by the accident and emergency departments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48742/12]

Hospital Services

Barry Cowen

30. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the concern amongst persons in the south east regarding a reconfiguration of hospital services in the region; his plans regarding same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48925/12]

Vaccination Programme

Derek Keating

31. Deputy Derek Keating asked the Minister for Health if he will report on the new forms recently issued to general practitioners for flu vaccinations in view of the fact that GPs have reported that the new forms take a considerable amount of extra time to complete by staff, require information that has already been submitted and is causing their system to be clogged up and the reason these new forms have been introduced during the middle of the programme [48744/12]

Care of the Elderly

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

32. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health the action he will take to ensure the provision of care home places and other supports to allow the discharge of more than 600 acute hospital patients who are ready to be discharged but who cannot be discharged due to the lack of such supports and places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48973/12]

Departmental Reports

Denis Naughten

33. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health when he will publish his Department's report on mortality rates at acute hospitals; his views on whether his failure to acknowledge the inaccuracy of the figures at Roscommon County Hospital has damaged the reputation of the hospitals and its staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48749/12]

Services for People with Disabilities

Dessie Ellis

34. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health if he has carried out an audit of the cumulative effects of cuts to funding for disability services in recent years; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that such cuts are now threatening the very existence of basic services; and if he will ensure that no further cuts to funding of services for persons with disabilities will be imposed in the forthcoming budget 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48962/12]

Medicinal Products Supply

Seán Crowe

35. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the recent positive developments in the area of vaccines for lung cancer, prostate cancer and meningitis in Cuba; his views on whether the widespread availability of these vaccines for cancer and meningitis sufferers would be welcome; and if there is anything that he can do to promote their availability in here and in Europe. [44822/12]

Medicinal Products Expenditure

John Browne

36. Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for Health the details of the deal made with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association on 15 October 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48923/12]

Carer's Allowance Applications

Timmy Dooley

37. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Health if his Department or the Health Service Executive is concerned about delays in processing applications for carer's payments; the implications of such delays for health services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48926/12]

Universal Health Insurance White Paper

Pádraig MacLochlainn

38. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health in view of the numbers of persons dispensing with private health insurance, if he is reviewing hiss plans for funding universal healthcare through an insurance-based system, since such a system would be heavily dependent on private health insurance companies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48965/12]

European Court of Human Rights Judgments

Mick Wallace

39. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Health if he has received the report from the expert group in relation to the A, B and C v Ireland judgment in the European Court of Human Rights; his views on the fact that it is now 11 months since this group was established with a view to reporting back to Government within six months; the reasons for this delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48824/12]

Departmental Reports

Peadar Tóibín

40. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the date on which he will publish the Small Hospitals Report Securing the Future of Smaller Hospitals: A Framework for Development; if he will confirm that this report recommends the closure of the ICU and full ED services at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, County Meath, as well as at eight other sites; if he will provide an update in the proposed development of a new regional hospital in the Health Service Executive North East area; if he will commit to maintaining ICU and full ED services at Our Lady's Navan until such a facility is in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48979/12]