Written Answers Nos. 223-242
223. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the reason the commitment to have no public patient waiting more than 15 months for surgery or a specialist appointment by October 2017 has been abandoned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28148/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra227. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the reason the commitment to have no public patient waiting more than 15 months for surgery or a specialist appointment by October 2017 has been abandoned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27911/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 227 together.
I acknowledge that waiting times are often unacceptably long and I am conscious of the burden that this places on patients and their families.
There is no doubt that our public hospital system is challenged in meeting the growing demand for care. Last year alone, there was a 2% increase in inpatient and day-case activity over 2015.
Reducing waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of this Government's key priorities. Consequently, Budget 2017 allocated €20 million to the NTPF, rising to €55 million in 2018.
In order to reduce the numbers of long-waiting patients, I asked the HSE to develop Waiting List Action Plans for 2017 in the areas of Inpatient/Daycase, Scoliosis and Outpatient Services. The Inpatient / Daycase and Outpatient Plans which have now been published and currently being implemented, focus on reducing the number of patients waiting 15 months or more for inpatient and daycase treatment or outpatient appointment as much as possible within existing resources by the end of October. The Scoliosis Action Plan aims to ensure that no patient who requires scoliosis surgery will be waiting more than four months for surgery by the end of 2017. Under these Plans, since early February, over 14,200 patients have come off the Inpatient/Daycase Waiting List and nearly 49,000 patients have come off the Outpatient Waiting List.
In addition, the NTPF has advised that under the ongoing Daycase Waiting List Initiative over 2,500 patients files have been transferred to private hospitals under this Initiative, 631 patients have accepted an offer of treatment in a private hospital and that over 178 patients have received their procedure .
224. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Health the waiting time targets which are in place for persons requiring further speech and language therapy following receipt of initial therapy [28149/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply.
225. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will report on the review of medical assessment units, urgent care centres and minor injuries clinics; his plans to extend their daily hours of opening and to provide weekend opening; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27909/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMedical Assessment Units (MAUs), Minor Injuries Clinics and similar units provide valuable services to local communities and alleviate the pressures on EDs. MAUs facilitate the immediate medical assessment, diagnosis and treatment of medical patients who suffer from a wide range of medical conditions who present to, or from within, a hospital requiring urgent or emergency care.
The Programme for a Partnership Government recognises the contribution of MAUs, Urgent Care Clinics and Minor Injury Clinics, and commits to a review of such clinics, acknowledging that some of these facilities have limited hours of operation.
The Department is committed to undertaking the Review, as outlined in the Programme for a Partnership Government, with a view to extending their hours of opening and weekend opening. In considering the opening hours of MAUs, the Review will have particular regard to the distance from the nearest ED and existing workloads. Work on this Review is progressing in 2017.
226. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the date on which the new national cancer strategy will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27910/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraGovernment approval to the draft National Cancer Strategy 2017-2026 will be sought shortly. Subject to approval, publication of the Strategy next month is envisaged.
228. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the status on the introduction of free general practitioner care to persons under 18 years of age; the increase in general practitioner numbers required to support the additional workload; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27913/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe introduction of GP care without fees to all people over 70 and all children under 6 years of age in 2015 represents a major step forward in improving access, quality and affordability of health care in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to extending in phases, and subject to negotiation with GPs, free GP care to all children under 18 years of age. Legislative changes will be required for any such extension of GP care without fees to further cohorts of the population and the timetable will be subject to the outcome of discussions with GP representatives on this and other contractual matters.
The Government is committed to the continued development of GP capacity to ensure that patients across the country continue to have access to GP services and that general practice is sustainable in all areas into the future. Several efforts to increase the number of practising GPs have been undertaken in recent years. These include increases in the number of GP training places, which have risen from 120 places in 2009 to 171 places being formally accepted for the 2017 training intake as of 13th June. Changes have been made to the entry provisions to the GMS scheme to facilitate more flexible/shared GMS/GP contracts, and to the retirement provisions for GPs under the GMS scheme. An enhanced supports package for rural GP practices has also been introduced. In addition, the GP contracts review process which is currently underway will seek to arrive at contractual arrangements which will ensure that general practice is an attractive, fulfilling and rewarding career option into the future.
In September 2015, the HSE published a medical workforce planning report on the future demand for GPs in Ireland and identified a current under-supply of GPs. A follow-up review of workforce planning for general practice will be carried out by the HSE in the coming months. The results of this will assist in the development of plans for further expansion in GP training capacity and trainee numbers.
229. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Health if he will report on the relocation of the Rotunda hospital to Connolly hospital. [27914/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe model of stand-alone maternity hospitals is not the norm internationally. Government policy is therefore to co-locate all remaining maternity hospitals with adult acute services in order to provide optimal clinical outcomes. Co-location of maternity services with adult services provides mothers with access to a full range of medical and support services should the need arise.
Following the Government's decision to locate the new children's hospital at the St James's Hospital campus, it was necessary to review the recommendations made in 2008 KPMG Report 'Independent Review of Maternity and Gynaecology Services in the Greater Dublin Area' in relation to the preferred sites for maternity hospitals in Dublin. As a result of that review it was decided that the Rotunda Hospital will be co-located with adult acute services at Connolly Hospital campus, Blanchardstown.
While the Rotunda redevelopment project is still at a very early stage of development, I am aware that the hospital has commissioned consultants to prepare a draft Design Brief. In addition, work is underway on a Development Control Plan for the Connolly campus which will inform the precise location of the new hospital on the campus.
During 2017 my Department is working with the HSE and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to conduct a mid-term review of the capital programme. Prioritisation of funding for the new Rotunda Hospital will be considered in the context of that review.
230. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Health the reason for the significant regional disparity in the provision of home care packages. [27916/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
231. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Health the number of additional mental health staff recruited to date in 2017; and the nature of the positions filled. [27921/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service issue, this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
232. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Health the steps being taken to find a solution for persons with alpha 1 that need Respreeza. [27922/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the community drug schemes, in accordance with the provisions of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013; therefore, the matter has been referred to the HSE for reply to the Deputy.
233. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health if Tallaght hospital is facing a €6 million bill to tackle an outbreak of a lethal superbug. [27925/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn relation to the query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service issue, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
234. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons that entered Curraghchase Forest Park in 2016; the amount of revenue which was collected; the amount of money which was reinvested by the Government in Curraghchase Forest Park in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29130/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraCoillte was established as a private commercial company under the Forestry Act 1988 and day-to-day operational matters, such as the management of their forest estate, are the responsibility of the company. Curraghchase Forest Park is in Coillte’s ownership. Therefore the number of visitors and associated revenue generated at this Forest Park is an operational matter for Coillte.
The company also advise that there is no re-investment by the Government in this Park and add that Coillte carries the costs of all maintenance works to the company’s forest parks, with some elements of cost recouped from the Rural Recreation Section of the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The Deputy may wish to contact Coillte directly if he would like to discuss this matter further.
235. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has had discussions with the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety regarding the need to introduce new requirements pertaining to the import of meat products from Brazil; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29183/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs soon as details of investigations into meat fraud in Brazil first emerged I wrote to Commissioner Andriukaitis outlining my concerns and stressing the importance that all appropriate steps are taken to ensure that any imports into the EU meet all of its animal and public health standards. Commissioner Andriukaitis has since given regular updates at the EU AgriFish Council.
Since 21 March only 1 consignment of Brazilian meat, from the four implicated establishments that are authorised to export to the EU, has arrived at an EU Border Inspection Point (BIP) destined for Ireland. This consignment was rejected.
An EU wide programme of supplementary checks for Brazilian consignments of meat has also been introduced. In addition, the Commission has carried out an audit of beef processing plants, and slaughter facilities for poultry and horsemeat in the Brazilian states that were implicated in the Brazilian inquiry.
The audit findings highlighted a number of concerns including systematic failures in the controls systems and deficiencies relating to food safety standards and official certification processes.
As a result on 7 June Commissioner Andriukaitis wrote to the Brazilian authorities to advise them of the findings of the audit and inform them that of additional measures that were to be put in place including:
- Delisting all horse meat slaughterhouses and horse exporting companies from the list of establishment eligible for export to the EU;
- Not to accept any new establishments to the lists for export to the EU;
- Introduce 100% systemic pre-export microbiological checks for export of poultry meat and meat products and preparations from Brazil to the EU.
At the Agri-Fish Council meeting on the 13 June, Member States including Ireland voiced their support for the measures undertaken by the Commissioner and Commissioner Andriukatis restated that the Commission stands ready to take further action if required in response.
236. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has had discussions with the EU Agriculture Commissioner and with the EU Trade Commissioner regarding the need to protect the European beef sector in discussions on Mercosur; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29184/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI and my officials have been very active in highlighting the potentially very damaging impact of a Mercosur deal on the European agriculture sector, and on the beef sector in particular.
At political level, I have continuously raised the issue with my Member State colleagues and with Commissioners Hogan and Malmström, both within the Council of Agriculture Ministers and in written form. I also continue to monitor the situation closely in co-operation with my Government colleagues, particularly the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, and the Taoiseach.
These efforts have been reinforced at official level through similar contacts with Member States and the Commission, particularly through the Special Committee on Agriculture and the Trade Policy Committee.
While the Commission responded to the strong lobbying by Ireland and others by excluding a beef Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) from the offers exchanged with Mercosur on 11 May 2016, there is a need for continued vigilance in relation to the conduct of these trade negotiations. We are also insisting that the timing and content of any beef TRQ offer is handled appropriately, and in a manner that safeguards the interests of the Irish and European beef sector in particular.
This must also take into account the findings of the Commission’s recent cumulative impact assessment, which strongly reinforce Ireland’s position in relation to beef. They are also a very effective reminder of the need for great caution in our approach to the issue of beef TRQs.
237. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount spent by his Department and State agencies under his aegis on outside contract and or third party public relations advice and training in past three years to date in 2017, by year and company engaged, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29224/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn general, public relations advice is provided by my Department's Press Office. However, from time to time, it may be necessary to engage the services of an outside provider for public relations training purposes. The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the following table.
I have requested the State Bodies under the aegis of my Department to respond directly to the Deputy, on the specific information requested, as this is an operational matter for the organisations themselves.
238. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he plans to make a decision regarding the allocation of spurdog quota to the Irish fleet. [29246/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSpurdog (now referred to as Picked Dogfish) is a long-lived, slow growing and late maturing species and is therefore particularly vulnerable to fishing mortality. Current advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) is that there should be no target fishery and that by-catch in mixed fisheries should be reduced to the lowest possible level. It recommends that a rebuilding plan should be developed for this stock. Spurdog spawning biomass is currently at the lowest observed level, although conservation measures have stabilised the decline in recent years.
The Marine Institute supports ICES advice and further notes that spatial avoidance measures should be put in place to avoid large catches of accidental by-catch. In terms of our responsibility to ensure the long-term sustainability of this stock and on the basis of firm scientific advice, there does not appear to be a case for the re-opening of a commercial fishery for Spurdog at this time.
The EU Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for dogfish was set at 270 tonnes for 2017 with 53 tonnes available to Ireland. This quota is only available, under EU law, to support a bycatch avoidance scheme, as approved by the European Commission's Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries (STECF), is in place.
Ireland has submitted a proposal for such a by catch avoidance scheme to the Commission and this will be assessed at the July Plenary meeting of STECF. It is intended that this pilot scheme will further increase our knowledge of the stock, aid in its recovery and help ensure its long-term sustainability on the basis of firm scientific evidence.
If the assessment by STECF is positive, the by catch avoidance programme will then be brought to the Quota Management Advisory Committee (involving fishing industry representatives from the catching and processing sectors) for further development, and subsequently go to public consultation.
239. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will provide a copy of the official diary of his predecessor (details supplied) for the period August to December 2015. [29150/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have set out below an extract from the diary of then Minister, Alex White for the period August 2015 to December 2015. This calendar was previously released following a request under the FOI Act.
240. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the implementation status of the national broadband plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29197/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Broadband Plan (NBP) aims to deliver high speed broadband services to every city, town, village and individual premises in Ireland. The Programme for Government commits to the delivery of the NBP as a matter of priority. This is being achieved through a combination of commercial investment by the telecommunications sector and a State intervention in those areas where commercial investment has not been fully demonstrated.
A key principle of the NBP is to support and stimulate commercial investment through policy and regulatory measures. Commercial investment since the publication of the NBP has considerably exceeded expectations. To date, the commercial telecommunications sector has invested over €2.5bn in upgrading and modernising networks which support the provision of high speed broadband and mobile telecoms services.
There has been significant progress in relation to broadband rollout so that today, approximately 1.4m or 61% of premises in Ireland can get high speed broadband of a minimum of 30 Megabits per second. The NBP has been a catalyst in encouraging investment by the telecoms sector, which is continuing to expand this footprint.
In April, eir signed an agreement with me committing them to follow through on their commercial plans to provide broadband to 300,000 premises in rural areas. Eir has committed to doing this work over a 90 week period, with an average of 500 premises passed per day. My Department will be monitoring this rollout to ensure that eir meets its obligations under the Agreement. A copy of the Commitment Agreement is available on my website www.dccae.gov.ie.
Quarterly updates will be published on the Departments website. I am pleased to announce that the eir rollout is in line with the Commitment Agreement.
The decision by eir to invest in infrastructure to deploy high speed broadband services to an additional 300,000 premises in rural Ireland was taken purely on commercial grounds. Neither I nor the Department have a statutory authority to direct eir in this regard.
I also published in April an updated High Speed Broadband Map which is available at www.broadband.gov.ie. The Map shows the extent of the State Intervention area and also the areas targeted for commercial services.
- The BLUE areas represent those areas where commercial telecommunications providers are either currently delivering or have indicated plans to deliver high speed broadband services,
- The AMBER areas on the High Speed Broadband Map represent the areas that will require State Intervention and are the subject of the current procurement process.
There are approximately 2.3m premises covering Ireland’s 26 counties, of which approximately 542,000 (23%) premises are located in the AMBER area on the Map. These premises will require State intervention and are the focus for the State Intervention procurement process. The remaining 1.8m premises are located in the BLUE areas and will be/are served by commercial operators. Of the 1.8m premises, 300,000 premises fall within eir’s plans to deliver rural high speed broadband between now and end 2018 (Light BLUE on map). Information on eir's planned rural deployment is available at http://fibrerollout.ie/eircode-lookup/.
The map provides information on a county by county basis with a breakdown of coverage across the townlands in every county. Individuals can themselves check whether their premises is in a BLUE or an AMBER area by accessing the High Speed Broadband Map and entering their Eircode at www.broadband.gov.ie.
A formal procurement process is in train to select a company or companies who will roll-out a new high speed broadband network within the State Intervention Area. The procurement process is being intensively managed, to ensure an outcome that delivers a future-proofed network that serves homes and businesses across Ireland, for at least 25 years. The finalisation of the State Intervention Area for the procurement process is an important milestone as it means that bidders can progress their business plans and the Department can move to the next stage of the procurement. The three bidders have indicated that they are proposing a predominantly fibre-to-the-home solution. A fibre-to-the-home solution means that householders and businesses may get speeds not just of 30 Megabits per second but much higher, potentially up to 1000 Megabits per second.
The State Intervention network will be a wholesale network and retail service providers will be able to use the network to provide enhanced broadband services to their customers.
The timeframe for the procurement continues to be dependent on a range of factors including the complexities that may be encountered by the procurement team and bidders, during the procurement process. During the Department's extensive stakeholder consultations in 2015, telecommunications service providers indicated a 3-5 year timeline to rollout a network of the scale envisaged under the NBP, once contracts are in place.
The procurement is progressing to the next stage. This week, the Department wrote to the three bidders in the NBP procurement process inviting them to submit their “Detailed Solutions” by 26 September 2017. This is a significant milestone as the NBP procurement process moves to the next stage.
The Department will engage with winning bidder(s) on the best rollout strategy, in order to target areas of particularly poor service, business needs and/or high demand.
However, I am aware that the rate of demand for data services has increased by 500% in the last four years and this presents a continuing challenge for telecommunication operators, regulators and policy makers both in Ireland and internationally. Recognising this challenge, I specifically included in the Programme for Government a commitment to a Mobile Phone and Broadband Task force. In July 2016, I established the Task Force together with Minister Humphreys to identify immediate solutions to broadband and mobile phone coverage deficits and investigate how better services could be provided to consumers, prior to the full build and roll-out of the network planned under the National Broadband Plan State intervention. The report of the Task Force was published in December and is available on both Departments' websites.
In producing this report, the Task Force worked with Departments, local authorities, ComReg, State agencies, the telecoms industry and other key stakeholders. The report contains 40 actions that will alleviate some of the telecommunications deficits across Ireland and the implementation programme on mobile phone and broadband access identifies 19 of these actions as areas where immediate and direct action by Departments and State agencies can ensure accelerated benefits to consumers.
In order to maintain momentum created by the Task Force, I, together with Minister Humphreys, established an Implementation Group. This group is driving and monitoring the implementation of the actions, bringing together all key stakeholders identified in the Task Force report with responsibility for delivery. This group will be formally reporting every 90 days on progress made on all actions. I published the first such quarterly progress report on 13th June 2017, which is available on my Department's website at http://www.dccae.gov.ie/documents/Taskforce%20Q1%20Progress%20Report.pdf and which shows that considerable progress has been made, particularly in relation to the implementation of actions identified for Q1 2017.
The work of the Task Force will also assist local authorities in preparing for the roll-out of the new NBP network once contracts are in place.
In addition, following regulations which I signed last year, ComReg recently announced the results of its auction for the 3.6GHz radio spectrum band, which means an 86% increase in spectrum capacity to meet the growing demand for mobile and wireless broadband services across rural and urban areas. The Regulator has awarded 15 year licences for the rights of use in this band which will provide a degree of stability and create future investment certainty. Spectrum was also awarded in lots covering 9 urban and rural regions across the country.
In my Department's Estimates for 2017, I have secured an €8 million provision for RTE to allow it to free up the 700 MHz spectrum band. ComReg in turn will make plans to allocate this spectrum to provide for significantly enhanced mobile coverage. The 700 MHz band is particularly suited to rural environments where the signal can travel long distances.
These initiatives should assist in enhancing the quality of mobile phone and data services across Ireland and particularly in rural Ireland.
241. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the publication deadline for the national mitigation strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29198/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe objective of Ireland’s first National Mitigation Plan is to set out what Ireland is doing, and is planning to do, to further the national transition objective as set out in the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act, 2015. The National Mitigation Plan has been prepared having regard to the provisions set out in the 2015 Act in close collaboration with all relevant Government Departments and, in particular, with the Ministers for Transport, Tourism and Sport; Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government; and Agriculture, Food and the Marine. As well as being supported by a range of technical, economic and environmental inputs, the National Mitigation Plan has also been informed by the submissions received during a public consultation in March and April 2017.
In addition, I invited the Climate Change Advisory Council, following my publication of the draft National Mitigation Plan, to engage directly with me and with other relevant Government Ministers with a view to providing its recommendations to feed into the preparation of the final Plan. All input received from the Advisory Council has being considered in finalising the National Mitigation Plan.
In accordance with the provisions of the 2015 Act, the National Mitigation Plan was circulated to Government before 10 June, 2017. In line with the provisions of the Act, Government must approve the National Mitigation Plan or approve it with such modifications as they consider appropriate. Once such approval has been given, I am looking forward to publishing the National Mitigation Plan as soon as possible thereafter.
242. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the amount spent by his Department and State agencies under his aegis on outside contract or third-party public relations advice and training in past three years to date in 2017, by year and company engaged, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29227/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Departmental remit includes complex policy areas, oversight of State regulation and service provision across key strategic services such as energy and public broadcasting, and regulation of sectors such as mining and hydrocarbon exploration. Given the technical complexity, economic significance and community interest in these areas, there is a requirement to disseminate information and to address specific issues as they arise. The Department therefore necessarily incurs some expenditure on public relations and associated training from time to time.
In procuring these services, my Department always seeks to ensure value for money and the keeping of expenditure to the minimum necessary.
The information which the Deputy requested is outlined in tabular format:
The information requested regarding the agencies under the aegis of my Department is an operational matter for each Agency. I will request the relevant bodies to reply directly to the Deputy with the information sought in respect of their organisation.
