Wednesday, 14 Jul 2021

Written Answers Nos. 375-399

General Practitioner Services

Ceisteanna (375)

Michael Healy-Rae

Ceist:

375. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding a general practitioner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31212/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

GPs are self-employed private practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place of their own choosing. There is no prescribed ratio of GPs to patients and the State does not regulate the number of GPs that can set up in a town or community. Under the provisions of the Health (Provision of General Practitioner Services) Act 2012, a GP can enter into a State contract to provide GP services provided he/she is on the Medical Council's Specialist Register in the Speciality of General Practice, irrespective of the number of GPs who are already established in an area.

Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders. Where a vacancy arises in a practice with a GMS contract, the HSE becomes actively involved in the selection process to find a replacement GP.

The Government, aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice, has implemented a number of measures to improve recruitment and retention in general practice.

These measures include an increase in investment in general practice by approximately 40% (€210 million) over the period 2019 - 2023 under the terms of the 2019 GP Agreement on contractual reform and service development. The Agreement provides for increased support for GPs working in rural practices and for those in disadvantaged urban areas, and for improvements to maternity and paternity leave arrangements. In addition, the number of GPs entering training has been increased steadily over the past ten years, rising from 120 in 2009 to 213 in 2020, with a further increase foreseen in 2021. The ICGP noted a record number of applications for the 2021 GP training programme.

These measures will see an increase in the number of GPs working in the State, improving access to GP services for patients throughout the country.

Vaccination Programme

Ceisteanna (376)

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

376. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the consideration that has been given to including younger age cohorts, 12-15 years old, in the vaccine roll-out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31213/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

Ireland welcomes the EMA age extension recommendation for the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty to include use in children aged 12 to 15. The National Immunisation Advisory Committee is reviewing the matter and will make a recommendation as appropriate. Currently, Ireland's COVID-19 Vaccination Programme is administering vaccines to those aged 16+.

Question No. 377 answered with Question No. 335.

Question No. 378 answered with Question No. 306.

Question No. 379 answered with Question No. 335.

Hospital Closures

Ceisteanna (380)

Martin Browne

Ceist:

380. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Health the progress that has been made in facilitating a meeting with campaigners opposed to the closure of St. Brigid’s Hospital, Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. [31246/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Health

Earlier this year I met with staff of St. Brigid’s, along with HSE personnel, to explain in detail the rationale for the repurposing of the St. Brigid’s facility. I have also met with the HSE recently and on 4 June I met with representatives of the Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District to clarify the agreed plans for the future of the facility. I have no plans to have further meetings at present, however I trust the Deputy will understand the practical restraints on my diary at the moment.

Question No. 381 answered with Question No. 335.

Question No. 382 answered with Question No. 335.

Question No. 383 answered with Question No. 335.

Question No. 384 answered with Question No. 335.

Health Services Staff

Ceisteanna (385)

Alan Dillon

Ceist:

385. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Health the impact that the current IT difficulties within the HSE is having on a recruitment campaign (details supplied); if there is an obligation or intention to inform candidates on the existing panel that a new recruitment campaign is taking place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31271/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

As 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 unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.

Covid-19 Pandemic

Ceisteanna (386)

Seán Sherlock

Ceist:

386. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the dates he met with maternity hospitals on the lifting of restrictions for partners of women giving birth. [31272/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

As 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 unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.

Question No. 387 answered with Question No. 335.

Departmental Websites

Ceisteanna (388, 389)

Holly Cairns

Ceist:

388. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the way in which his Department and agencies under his remit are meeting the requirement to have a statement on the compliance of their websites and mobile applications with the regulations under the directive 2016/2102 (EU), as articulated in SI No. 358/2020 - European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31294/21]

Holly Cairns

Ceist:

389. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the way in which his Department and agencies under his remit are meeting the requirement to subject to Regulation 6, public sector bodies shall, in accordance with Regulation 3, take necessary measures to make their websites and mobile applications more accessible by making them perceivable, operable, understandable and robust under the directive 2016/2102 (EU), as articulated in SI No. 358/2020 - European Union (Accessibility of Websites and Mobile Applications of Public Sector Bodies) Regulations 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31312/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

I propose to take Questions Nos. 388 and 389 together.

My Department has no remit in terms of back end coding for accessibility, nor the ability to edit information regarding framework on the Government website (Gov.ie). The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO) have responsibility for the oversight of this website, where it is managed centrally for many Government Departments, including for the Department of Health.

The information in respect of state bodies, within the scope of the Deputy’s question, is not held by my Department. Contact details for these bodies are set out in the attached document, should the Deputy wish to contact the aegis bodies directly with her query.

With regards to elements of this question that relate to the Health Service Executive, specifically relevant to the Covid-19 Tracker Application, I have asked them to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

DOH Aegis Bodies Contacts
Aegis Bodies
Dental Council	[e-mail]
Food Safety Authority of Ireland	[e-mail]
Food Safety Promotion Board - Safefood	[e-mail][e-mail]
Health Information and Quality Authority	[e-mail] (general queries) [e-mail] (concerns about a health or social care service) [e-mail] (head of communications and stakeholder engagement)
Health Insurance Authority	[e-mail]
Health Products Regulatory Authority	[e-mail]
Health Research Board	[e-mail] [e-mail]
Health Service Executive	[e-mail]. [e-mail](for medical card queries)
Health and Social Care Professionals Council	[e-mail]
Irish Blood Transfusion Service	[e-mail]
Medical Council	[e-mail]
Mental Health Commission	[e-mail]
National Cancer Registry Board	[e-mail]
National Paediatric Hospital Development Board	[e-mail]
National Treatment Purchase Fund Board	[e-mail]
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland	[e-mail]
Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland Council	[e-mail]
Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council	[e-mail]
VHI Healthcare	[e-mail]

Question No. 389 answered with Question No. 388.

Food Industry

Ceisteanna (390, 391, 392, 393, 394, 395)

Pauline Tully

Ceist:

390. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health if cold pressed cannabidiol food supplements derived from the EU hemp crop are regulated as traditional foods in Ireland; if the Food Safety Authority of Ireland advises Irish hemp farmers and producers that these products do not require a novel food authorisation from the European Food Safety Authority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31313/21]

Pauline Tully

Ceist:

391. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health if Irish farmers and producers of cold pressed cannabidiol food supplements made from hemp would continue to have access to EU markets for their products in the event that the European Commission would require those specific products to be authorised by European Food Safety Authority in accordance with EU Novel Food regulation 2015/2283; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31314/21]

Pauline Tully

Ceist:

392. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health the reason Irish authorities require Irish hemp farmers and processors to submit EU novel food authorisation applications for agricultural foods based solely on the extraction solvents used in their production when those solvents are already specifically pre-authorised by European authorities within the EU novel good regulatory framework given that Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 states that the extraction solvents falling within the scope of Directive 2009/32/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council should be excluded from the scope of novel food regulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31315/21]

Pauline Tully

Ceist:

393. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the clarifications by the European Commission (details supplied) regarding the novel food authorisation applications of Irish hemp farms and businesses in which the Commission again explains specifically for Ireland that cannabidiol food and food supplements produced from any part of the EU hemp crop including the flowers and leaves are considered to be legal agricultural food products by the European Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31316/21]

Pauline Tully

Ceist:

394. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health the reason the Health Products Regulatory Authority is requiring Irish hemp farmers and producers to formally confirm that they will destroy the flowers and leaves of their 2021 hemp crops considering that these farmers and producers are at present progressing EU novel food authorisation applications at the insistence of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and that further clarifications was provided by the EU Commission which his attention was drawn to on 22 February 2021 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31317/21]

Pauline Tully

Ceist:

395. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that hemp derived cannabidiol food supplements cannot be made from the seeds, fibres and stalks of the hemp plant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31318/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

I propose to take Questions Nos. 390 to 395, inclusive, together.

The Department of Health issues the licences for the cultivation of hemp in Ireland. The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) processes the applications received for such licences, on behalf of the Department of Health. The applications are assessed against what is legally permitted under the current Misuse of Drugs legislative framework.

This legislation states that cannabis and its derivatives are controlled by virtue of the Misuse of Drugs framework. Under the Misuse of Drugs Acts, cannabis means any part of the plant of the genus cannabis but excludes the following after separation from the rest of the plant:

- the mature stalk and fibre produced from it; and

- the seeds.

Any other part of the plant not explicitly excluded under the Act is cannabis for the purposes of the Act. As such, only the seed, mature stalk or fibre of the hemp plant may legally be supplied onwards. As a consequence, other parts of the plant must be destroyed.

Consideration as to whether a product contains a substance controlled under the Misuse of Drugs framework falls under the remit of officers authorised under the Misuse of Drugs legislative framework, which include, officers of the Revenue Commissioners and An Garda Síochána.

When hemp-derived products are placed on the market as ‘food’ in line with the General Food Law (Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002), numerous other regulations pertaining to the EU food legislation may apply, and are enforced by official agencies under service contract to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. The flowers/buds of the Cannabis plant fall outside the definition of food in Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 as they are considered narcotic drugs in line with the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961. Therefore the marketing of cannabis flowers or buds on their own as food in the EU is not permitted. While hemp seeds do not naturally produce or contain cannabinoids including cannabidiol (CBD), there may be varying levels of cannabinoids found in fibres and stalks of the hemp plant.

Ireland does not consider CBD derived from legally-cultivated hemp by cold pressing as a novel food. This means cold-pressed CBD from legally-cultivated hemp can be sold as food in Ireland without requiring a novel food authorisation, subject to compliance with all other applicable food legislation. However, where cannabis-derived CBD products have been refined by purification, concentration, etc., they are considered novel foods that must be authorised in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 prior to marketing. The rationale for this position is not related to the legal use of authorised extraction solvents, but is due to the potential safety threats posed by the higher concentration of desirable components and possible co-purified undesirable components, where they do not have a significant history of consumption prior to 1997. This general position has been agreed by all EU Member States as expressed in the entry for “Cannabinoids” in the EU Novel Food Catalogue ec.europa.eu/food/food/novel-food/novel-food-catalogue_en .

The addition of synthetic or concentrated forms of plant-derived CBD to a hemp seed-derived food in order to boost the levels of CBD also makes that final food a novel food which must be authorised in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 before it can be placed on the EU market.

Question No. 391 answered with Question No. 390.

Question No. 392 answered with Question No. 390.

Question No. 393 answered with Question No. 390.

Question No. 394 answered with Question No. 390.

Question No. 395 answered with Question No. 390.

Vaccination Programme

Ceisteanna (396)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Ceist:

396. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Health the action he is taking to ensure there is no delay in members of the public receiving their second dose of a vaccine (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31326/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

On 4 June I announced a shorter interval between doses for the Vaxzevria® (AstraZeneca) vaccine. This follows updated recommendations from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC), which have been endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer. The NIAC has concluded that those of any age (without any previous COVID-19 infection), who have received their first dose of Vaxzevria® should receive their second dose 8-12 weeks later.

The HSE recently received updated advice from the NIAC in relation to reducing the dosing interval for the administration of the AstraZeneca vaccine from 12 weeks to 8. Extensive planning has been required to put in place a programme that will now see the remaining, approximately 450,000 people, in receipt of the AstraZeneca vaccine fully immunised through the administration of this second dose and this is expected to be substantially completed by 19 July.

Health Services

Ceisteanna (397)

Pearse Doherty

Ceist:

397. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Donegal will receive an appointment for a cataract operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31334/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

As 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 unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is on-going, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.

Vaccination Programme

Ceisteanna (398)

Pearse Doherty

Ceist:

398. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive their second dose of Covid-19 vaccine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31335/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

As 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 unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is ongoing, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.

Vaccination Programme

Ceisteanna (399)

Pearse Doherty

Ceist:

399. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health when the additional vaccination centres announced for County Donegal in Dungloe and Carndonagh are expected to commence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31336/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

As 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 unable to access the information to answer Parliamentary Questions due to the recent cyber-attack, which has required a temporary shut-down of HSE IT systems. The disruption to service is ongoing, and the HSE is working hard to restore its IT capacity and resume normal services. Members of the Oireachtas will be advised as soon as the HSE is again in a position to provide responses to PQs and are encouraged to resubmit their Parliamentary Questions at that point.