Written Answers Nos. 443-456
443. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Minister for Health the number of senior and junior consultants who are currently attached to the emergency department in Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, County Galway. [44339/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
444. Deputy Gabrielle McFadden asked the Minister for Health if he is satisfied with the current level of cover being provided by senior consultants at the emergency department in Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, County Galway. [44340/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
445. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the number of allied health professionals in primary care, with a breakdown by Health Service Executive region and therapy. [44343/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
446. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the reason for the inordinate delay in publishing the promised sexual health strategy; and if he will provide the indicative date to which he is working. [44344/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to acknowledge the significant work done by the Steering Group to date on the development of the Sexual Health Strategy.
Given the importance of this issue, and the fact that this Strategy marks the first nationally coordinated approach to addressing sexual health and wellbeing, I have asked that further consideration be given to a high level action plan and timeline for implementation that I intend to see published as part of the final Strategy.
While I expect this work to be completed as early as possible in 2015 and presented for my consideration prior to its publication, I have also asked the HSE to address the implementation of the Strategy in their National Service Plan for next year.
447. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the regulatory system for counselling and psychotherapy services; the qualification standards required for employment in the health service; the advice available from his Department for members of the public who are seeking quality assurance and appropriate qualification standards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44345/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraCounselling and psychotherapy services are provided both as an enhancement of the range of services available to people at primary care level and to support basic mental health services. Effective psychotherapy and counselling offer a range of interventions that are designed to empower the service user to understand, transform and cope with those vulnerabilities and problems that give rise to their mental health difficulties.
Under Section 22 of the Health Act 2004, the HSE has the authority to appoint persons to be its employees and may determine their duties. This includes the appointment of persons to posts within the counselling and psychotherapy area. The HSE's website sets out the eligibility criteria for appointment to counsellor positions in the health service, including qualifications, experience and other requirements.
Counsellors and psychotherapists are not currently subject to professional statutory regulation. Similar to other practitioners, they are, however, subject to legislation including consumer and competition legislation, and contract and criminal law. The first stage in the process of applying the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 to counsellors and psychotherapists, involving a detailed consultation with the Health and Social Care Professionals Council, is currently under way.
448. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if participants on the wage subsidy scheme are automatically entitled to a medical card; if, in the case of a married couple with children, the family members are included on the medical card; and if, as stated under 5.2 of Government schemes, there has been no change, the reason persons (details supplied) in County Kilkenny were not granted a medical card. [44394/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office who will follow up the matter with them.
449. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if his attention has been drawn to the detention of a person (details supplied); his views on this detention; if he will raise this matter with his Iranian counterpart; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43745/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am familiar with the individual referred to in this question and the circumstances of this individual's arrest in June this year after taking part in a peaceful protest. The apparent arrest, detention and prosecution of this individual for the peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of expression is of great concern. It is our understanding other interested governments are also monitoring this case closely and that the case has been raised with Iran at the highest level including with the Iranian President.
Ireland has always attached priority to safeguarding the position and rights of human rights defenders and has continually advocated that civil society actors must be free to operate in a safe and enabling environment, free from repression. Ireland's concerns on issues of tolerance of civil society and freedom of expression have been raised with the Iranian authorities, as part of our ongoing dialogue with them on the need for greater respect for human rights within Iran, and we will continue to do so, including making reference as appropriate to the infringements of basic human rights highlighted in this case.
In the 2010 Universal Periodic Review of the human rights situation in Iran at the United Nations in Geneva, Ireland raised concerns over human rights violations, including with regard to freedom of expression, association and assembly. We noted reported attacks against and the detention of human rights defenders and deplored attempts to restrict peaceful demonstrations and actions. We further voiced our concerns about serious deficiencies in the area of gender equality. Further concerns in relation to treatment of religious minorities and the continued excessive use of capital punishment in Iran were raised by Ireland in the second Universal Periodic Review of Iran which took place in October 2014.
Human rights defenders and those promoting important issues such as gender equality should not be detained for simply exercising their rights, and all those arbitrarily detained in such circumstances should be immediately released. This concern has been consistently conveyed to the Iranian authorities, and we will continue to do so. Ireland will continue to follow closely the human rights situation in Iran and to monitor this case in that context.
450. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade in view of Ireland's election as co-chair of UN negotiations on the next stage, post-2015, development strategy, his plans to use this position; and if he will continue to support equality and hunger eradication in the final agreement on the post-2015 framework. [44057/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 17 October, the President of the UN General Assembly appointed Ireland's Permanent Representative to the United Nations to co-facilitate the major international negotiations to agree a new set of global development goals to replace the Millennium Development Goals. The Permanent Representative of Kenya was also appointed. The new goals, which will take effect after 2015, will be known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and should be adopted at a summit of world leaders in New York next September.
The appointment is a great honour for Ireland, and a great responsibility. The challenge for the two co-facilitators will be to build consensus among the 193 Member States on a very broad and comprehensive agenda. The new development goals will entail responsibilities and actions for all countries, and will aim to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 and achieve sustainable development at a global level by addressing challenges in areas such as energy, food, water, climate, urbanisation, peaceful societies and effective governance.
Ireland and Kenya are currently co-facilitating consultations at the United Nations on how the inter-governmental negotiations will be carried out. We are also working with our colleagues in the EU to ensure that the process will culminate in a successful outcome at next years' high-level summit, and that the new SDGs, which will have a profound impact on the lives of the world's poor, will reflect our priorities. These include equality and the eradication of poverty and hunger.
451. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of staff that are drawing down retirement pensions from the public sector or Civil Service and have been brought back on contract work or temporary contracts to work in his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44117/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraDetails are set out in the following table of the retired officials of my Department who are currently re-employed on temporary contracts.
|
Year - 2014 |
2014 |
2014 |
|
Grade |
Position Held |
Duration |
|
Assistant Secretary |
To assist in the preparation of files for the National Archives |
Contract for a maximum of 10 weeks spread over the twelve months of 2014 |
|
Counsellor |
Passport Appeals Officer |
Three-year contract from 4 April 2014 to deal with appeals as and when they arise |
|
Senior Development Specialist |
To assist with a Consular Services project |
Contract for an initial 3 month period in 2014 |
From time to time, a number of retired Public Sector officials and retired Civil Servants from other Departments are engaged to assist on interview boards in my Department.
My Department's Development Cooperation Division also occasionally engages a small number of retired staff for short-duration specialist consultancy projects connected with the activities of Irish Aid.
The policy of my Department regarding the re-engagement of retired officials is to do so to the minimum extent possible. However, for certain once-off or short-duration projects, it is more productive and cost-effective to re-engage retired staff who already have the relevant expertise and experience than to go through a time-consuming and relatively expensive recruitment, induction and training process. Where it occurs, retired staff are usually re-engaged on a pension abatement basis, which means in effect that they continue to receive their pensions and are paid correspondingly reduced salaries by the Department.
452. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Ireland's position on the UN Special Committee on Decolonization resolution on the Malvinas Islands (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44324/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe UN Special Committee on Decolonization approved its most recent resolution on the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas) in June 2014, expressing its regret that, in spite of widespread international support for negotiation between the two Governments (Argentina and the United Kingdom), implementation of General Assembly resolutions on the question had not started. The Governments were requested to consolidate the current process of dialogue and cooperation through the resumption of negotiations, in order to find as soon as possible a peaceful solution to the dispute, in accordance with resolutions 2065 (XX) and 3160 (XXVIII), among others.
I would encourage the UK and Argentina, two countries with which Ireland has excellent bilateral relations, to pursue resolution of their differences on this matter, based on the relevant UN resolutions.
453. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the premises of three primary schools (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43746/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that in relation to the first named school, that it is my Department's intention to provide improved accommodation for the school. It is intended that the school will be accommodated in a school building currently occupied, temporarily, by a special school pending the construction of a permanent school building for the special school. The building project for the second named school is currently at an advanced stage of architectural planning, Stage 2b - Detailed Design, which involves obtaining planning permission, fire certificate and disability access certificate and the completion of tender documents. Notification to grant planning permission was issued on 3rd September 2014. This is currently subject to a third party appeal to An Bord Pleanála and a decision on that appeal is awaited. My Department has no record of having received an application for grant aid for capital works from the third named school.
454. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a school building project (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43766/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe project at the school to which the Deputy refers, was recently authorised to commence the tender process. Subject to no issues arising, it is envisaged that the project will progress to construction in the 2nd quarter of 2015.
455. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the concessionary amalgamation post sanctioned for a school (details supplied) in County Kilkenny will be approved for retention beyond September 2014, similar to the sanction given in the case of a school in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43837/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the current amalgamation arrangements there is a provision for the allocation of a concessionary mainstream teaching post in cases where the approved number of mainstream teachers serving in the schools at the time the amalgamation takes place exceeds the number of mainstream posts warranted by the total enrolment on the basis of the staffing schedule. The continued allocation of the concessionary post is dependent on the teachers concerned remaining on the staff of the school and the appropriate enrolment figures being maintained.
The school referred to by the Deputy was allocated a concessionary mainstream teaching post upon amalgamation in 2007. The post was allocated on the basis of the school operating on a split site and the school was informed that the post would remain in place until the school moved to a new building, on one site. This happened at the start of the current 2014/15 school year and the concessionary post was withdrawn. The staffing arrangements for the 2014/15 school year (Circular 0007/2014) were published on 24 January, 2014. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing arrangements also include the provision whereby schools experiencing rapid increases in enrolment can apply for additional permanent mainstream posts on developing grounds, using projected enrolment for September 2014. The staffing process also includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit an appeal under certain criteria to an independent Appeals Board, including developing school grounds. The Appeals Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final. The school referred to has been approved for a developing school post for the 14/15 school year as a result of this appeals process.
456. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of applications for approval of individual pay levels in excess of agreed salary scales that have been received by her Department; the number that have been approved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43845/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraPay scales for positions of employment at my Department are set by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and no staff have been approved for a salary that exceeds these scales. In relation to the University sector and bodies under the aegis of my Department, four requests were made to my Department for remuneration that exceeded approved scales. Three of these requests were not facilitated and one is currently under consideration.
