Written Answers Nos. 471 - 488
471. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card appeal in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6089/15]
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.
472. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a primary medical certificate application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6104/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra473. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on an application for a primary medical certificate in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6105/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 472 and 473 together.
As the Deputy's questions relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, he can contact my Private Office and they will follow the matter up with the HSE.
474. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the number of inpatient beds available across the country, broken down by area, for children with mental health difficulties; if he will provide a comparison between these numbers and the numbers over the past five years; the way these numbers have changed since the inclusion of 17-year-old and 18-year-old children in the category of child and adolescent mental health; and his views that this group of vulnerable patients are adequately catered for. [6106/15]
Amharc ar fhreagra476. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the number of children in the child and adolescent mental health services that are currently waiting for inpatient beds, after being referred for admission; and if children are still being admitted to adult mental health wards. [6108/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 474 and 476 together.
As this is a service issue these questions have been referred to the HSE for direct reply. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up these matters with them.
475. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an emergency inpatient bed in an appropriate unit in respect of a person (details supplied). [6107/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service issue this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. 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.
477. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the number of child mental health inpatient beds recommended by his Department; and the way this compares with actual provision. [6109/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraA Vision for Change recommends the provision of 80 child and adolescent psychiatric in-patient beds. Currently, there are 54 operational Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) beds in the HSE, i.e. beds available to take a child/adolescent as an in-patient if the need arises. These beds are located as follows - 22 in Dublin, 20 in Galway and 12 in Cork. This is an improvement on the position in November last, when 48 beds were operational.
A new purpose built 22 bed CAMHS in-patient unit located on the grounds of Cherry Orchard Hospital is due to be completed in mid-2015. The existing 14 beds in the current temporary facility, will transfer across, thereby giving a net increase of 8 beds in the facility, thus increasing the number of operational beds nationally to 62. In addition, the HSE intends to open an additional 8 beds, currently closed, in the Eist Linn Unit in Cork, when staffing recruitment issues are resolved, thereby targeting an overall operational capacity of 70 beds in 2015. The question of providing additional bed provision, in line with A Vision for Change and overall revenue availability over the longer term, will be kept under review by the Department of Health and the HSE.
478. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health the facilities available in the constituency of Louth for persons under 18 years of age, who may be suffering from mental health difficulties; the way these facilities are accessed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6116/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service issue this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. 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.
479. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the home help service in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6129/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply. 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.
480. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health if he will support Kare Social Services in Dublin 5, in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6146/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply. 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.
481. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health the number of persons (details supplied) with an intellectual disability, who are on waiting lists for residential day care and respite care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6147/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraSpecialist Disability services are provided by or on behalf of the HSE to enable children and adults with a disability to achieve their full potential and maximise independence, including living as independently as possible in the community. Disability services are provided in a variety of community and residential settings in partnership with service users, their families and carers and a range of statutory, non-statutory, voluntary and community groups. Voluntary agencies provide the majority of services in partnership with or on behalf of the Health Service Executive.
In planning for the delivery of intellectual disability services, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and disability service providers maintain the National Intellectual Disability Database (NIDD).
The NIDD provides a comprehensive database for decision-making in relation to the planning, funding and management of services for people with an intellectual disability. The 2013 report of the NIDD forecasts the future residential, day care and respite requirements of people with an intellectual disability in the period 2014 to 2018 based on 2013 data. However, it is important to emphasise that the NIDD acts as a planning and forecasting tool and does not match individuals to the actual service they will require at the specific time it will be required. This will often depend on individual and family circumstances which will change over time.
The report forecasts that 4,488 additional residential, day and residential support/respite places will be needed to meet service requirements in the period 2014 – 2018. Of these 4,488 individuals, it is forecast that 190 will require a day service, 2,043 will require a residential support or respite service and 2215 will require a full-time residential service.
In 2013, the 2,043 individuals forecast as requiring a full-time residential service between 2014 and 2018 were in receipt of specialist disability services to meet their needs at that time. 99.8% of this group of 2,043 were in receipt of a day service or a residential support service and 90.0% of the 2,043 lived at home.
482. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health the number of acute hospitals and hospital beds here per capita and overall; his views on the way this compares to international examples; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6153/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe best measure to use for international comparisons would be Eurostat data on curative care beds. This specifically excludes day case beds, beds used for longer term care, for example geriatrics, and it also excludes psychiatric beds. The data Ireland supplies to Eurostat is based on the publicly funded acute hospitals only.
In the most recent data available from 2011, Ireland had 217 curative care beds per 100,000 population. This compared with an average of 365 curative care beds per 100,000 population for the 25 EU Member States that provided data in 2011. It should be noted that data for Ireland and UK (237 per 100,000) exclude beds in private hospitals which affects the comparability somewhat.
483. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on discussions held with states outside the European Union-European Economic Area on the acceptance of the passport card that will be issued by his Department later this year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5615/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe new Irish Passport Card is an innovative passport offering and unique in European terms. It will be accepted for travel within the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK), the European Economic Area (EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) and Switzerland. Discussions with countries outside this area regarding acceptance of the passport card are at a preliminary stage.
484. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will extend the validity period of passport cards from five years to ten years; the reason the validity period is five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5616/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Passport Card is designed on the basis of a credit card size and so will fit conveniently into a wallet. It will be of a polycarbonate construction also very similar to a credit card. The industry standard to ensure durability and security of the card recommends that the validity should be set to no more than 5 years.
485. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of passport holders that have registered for the passport reminder service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5617/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere is a link on the DFA website to this service which is run by Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, on behalf of the parent department.
I can confirm there are 23,592 registrations in the system of which 1,126 have been received in 2015.
486. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will provide a breakdown of the costs for the past three years for the top ten Irish embassies abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5625/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraOur embassies’ work in support of Ireland’s foreign policy interests include:
- Promoting investment in Ireland and supporting Irish businesses to expand overseas;
- Providing frontline consular assistance and passport services to Irish citizens overseas;
- Promoting Ireland as a tourism destination and promoting Ireland’s culture abroad;
- Representing and advancing Ireland’s policies and interests;
- Engaging with and supporting Irish communities abroad; and
- Managing Ireland’s overseas development programmes.
My Department works closely with the State agencies, including Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Bord Bia and Tourism Ireland, to support trade missions, directly assist Irish companies with advice and introductions and work to resolve regulatory or market access issues.
Staff of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade promote Ireland as a destination for investment and lobby and negotiate for Ireland on issues that could impact our economic interests: whether that’s on trade policy, taxation issues or other crucial issues.
In responding to the severe economic and financial crisis which has affected Ireland in recent years, the Embassy network has played a particularly important role in repairing and enhancing our reputation and promoting economic recovery.
The table below shows the ten highest costs among Irish embassies for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014:
|
2014 |
€ |
2013 |
€ |
2012 |
- |
|
London (including passport office) |
5,510,338 |
London (including passport office) |
5,396,713 |
London (including passport office) |
5,944,944 |
|
Paris (including OECD) |
3,367,957 |
Paris (including OECD) |
3,206,758 |
Paris (including OECD) |
2,780,161 |
|
Beijing |
2,225,579 |
Washington DC |
2,250,933 |
Tokyo |
2,495,289 |
|
Washington DC |
2,217,443 |
Tokyo |
2,034,096 |
Washington DC |
2,452,061 |
|
Tokyo |
1,810,639 |
Mozambique |
2,006,230 |
Rome |
1,953,880 |
|
Berlin |
1,780,725 |
Beijing |
1,934,537 |
Mozambique |
1,822,624 |
|
Mozambique |
1,542,967 |
Berlin |
1,674,131 |
Berlin |
1,624,043 |
|
Madrid |
1,439,721 |
Tanzania |
1,558,291 |
Vienna |
1,606,742 |
|
Uganda |
1,418,132 |
Rome |
1,548,200 |
New Delhi |
1,548,660 |
|
Rome |
1,408,031 |
Moscow |
1,514,269 |
Beijing |
1,511,390 |
The figures in the table include expenditure charged to mission budgets. Capital expenditure incurred on behalf of a Mission is also included even though such expenditure is not part of a Mission’s budget. The costs for London include the London passport office and the costs for Paris include Ireland’s OECD representation.
487. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of new passports issued to foreign nationals; the number of requests from foreign nationals to remain here, for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5704/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraOnly Irish citizens are entitled to be issued with Irish passports.
As the Passport Service does not request any information on other nationalities as part of the application process, information on the number of Irish passport holders who are dual nationals is not available.
488. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the execution of a Jordanian airforce pilot by the group called ISIS and the execution of prisoners in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in reprisal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5793/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraI condemn the murder of Jordanian pilot Lt. Moaz Al-Kasasbeh by the terrorist group ISIS. This murder, and the particularly cruel and immoral manner of it, is appalling. In a statement, I expressed my deep sympathies to his family and to the Jordanian nation on their loss.
Ireland, like our EU partners, has a strong and unequivocal opposition to the death penalty in all times and in all circumstances and accordingly seeks its universal abolition. We believe that its abolition contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human rights.
