Written Answers Nos. 196-215
197. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the reason that grade IV staff employed by a company (details supplied) in the data processing department of the contact management programme are being retained while employees on an equivalent pay scale in the contract tracing department are not being retained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34809/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra198. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if the contract tracing department in the contact management programme will be reduced to 132 employees at grade III and 9 at grade IV; if grade III vacancies will be filled through an open recruitment campaign or from the existing staff pool in the programme; if experience in contact tracing will be a requirement for these positions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34810/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 197 and 198 together.
Changes to COVID-19 testing and tracing as part of the overall transition arrangements for the pandemic were approved by the Government in February 2022. There is no longer a public health rationale or need for extensive testing, case finding and tracing of infection to reduce COVID-19 transmission. The focus now is on mitigation of the severe impacts of COVID-19 for those most vulnerable to the disease and those with risk factors who may benefit from specific interventions. Full details of the current public health advice are available on the website of the HSE at www.hse.ie. The public health advice relating to testing and tracing is kept under continuing review having regard to the evolving epidemiological situation, the impact of the disease on healthcare utilisation and outcomes, the vaccination status of the population, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) guidance and other international evidence and guidance.
The HSE is working to implement this advice which is invariably leading to consolidation of resources around the country as the HSE moves through the transition phases of the programme. The arrangements with regard to the number of positions available, and the nature of the work that will be carried out is a matter for the Health Service Executive, and I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly in this regard, as soon as possible.
199. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the funding that has been provided to the HSE contact management programme since it was established; the breakdown of moneys spent on staff, by grade, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34811/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a operational matter, I have referred it to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy
200. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the plans his Department has put in place to lower the wait period of 58 weeks for audiology in University Hospital Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34818/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
201. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health if the funding that was made available for addiction family support services in budget 2021 was distributed through a tendering process; and the reason the decision was made to engage in competitive tendering for these services. [34822/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.
202. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Health if he will address concerns raised and offer assistance to a person (details supplied) in County Tipperary concerning their inability to obtain access to a mollii suit which is a medical assistive device for neuromodulation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34827/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
203. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if he will provide information on the application process for private sector healthcare workers to avail of the €1,000 Covid payment. [34970/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFirstly I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all healthcare workers for their efforts during this most challenging period.
On January 19th, the Government announced a COVID-19 pandemic recognition payment for frontline public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. Following extensive engagement with healthcare unions on the matter, on 19th April the HSE published eligibility guidelines and FAQs, as apply to the HSE and Section 38 agencies, which are available on its website: www.hse.ie/eng/staff/resources/hr-circulars/hr-circular-012-2022-pandemic-special-recognition-payment.html
The HSE and the Department are currently examining progressing the rollout to the list of 6 non-HSE/non-Section 38 organisation types covered by the Government Decision. Rolling out the payment to eligible non-HSE and non-Section 38 employees is a complex task, particularly as these employees are not normally paid by the public health service, duplicate payments need to be avoided, and there are many organisations to be covered.
Officials in the Department and the HSE are prioritising the work needed to progress this. It is hoped that information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/S38 healthcare employees that are covered by the Government Decision and the process available to their employers to implement this measure for their eligible staff. This shall cover eligible staff in:
1. Private Sector Nursing Homes and Hospices (e.g. Private, Voluntary, Section 39 etc.);
2. Eligible staff working on-site in Section 39 long-term residential care facilities for people with disabilities;
3. Agency roles working in the HSE;
4. Health Care Support Assistants (also known as home help / home care / home support) contracted to the HSE;
5. Redeployed members of Department of Defence to work in frontline Covid-19 exposed environments for the HSE;
6. Paramedics employed by the Department of Local Government, Housing and Heritage.
The Government is mindful of other workers who played their own part during this difficult period in sustaining other services. It is tough to draw a line on this matter, but the Government based its decision on the risks which the above frontline workers faced. In recognition of the efforts of all workers, volunteers, and the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in remembrance of people who lost their lives due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government announced a public holiday which took place on 18 March 2022. From February next year there will also be a new permanent public holiday established to mark Imbolc/St Brigid’s Day.
204. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if non-SMEs can be included in Brexit Adjustment Reserve funding from the processor's capital funding initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34634/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI was pleased to announce on 12 May a new €45 million Brexit Processing Capital Support Scheme. The scheme delivers on a recommendation of the Seafood Taskforce and offers grant rates of between 30% and 50% for capital investment in SME seafood processing enterprises, varying depending on the degree of value adding in the project.
The scheme is designed to counter the adverse consequences of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. It seeks to support the processing sector to engage in transformational change, mitigating the effects of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and Brexit, while also building more environmentally friendly, sustainable and competitive enterprises which serve the EU and wider global markets, create higher levels of employment more locally, and make better and more sustainable use of Irish landed or imported raw material. The scheme is aimed at supporting industry led transformative capital investments that enable the sector to focus on 'creating more from less' in the wake of reduced supply of raw material and at moving enterprises in the sector further up the supply chain to produce higher value products and shift the industry to a focus on secondary processing and beyond to products targeting end-user markets. The scheme will be proposed for funding under the EU Brexit Adjustment Reserve.
The scheme received State Aid clearance on the basis that it provides supports to SMEs only. This is consistent with the European Commission’s State Aid Guidelines which require consistency with the provisions of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund Regulation, which in turn restricts grant aid to the processing sector to SMEs only.
205. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the percentage of indicative allocations for Pillar 2 rural development measures that will be made up by co-financing; the maximum co-financing permissible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34731/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe total funding for the CSP for the period 2023-2027 is €9.83 billion. The EU budget agreement in 2020 provided a total CAP funding for Ireland of €7.53 billion over the five-year period from 2023 to 2027. This funding is split between Pillar I (Direct Payments and Sectoral Interventions - €5.97 billion) and Pillar II (Rural Development - €1.56 billion).
Article 91(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 of the European Parliament and of the Council states that the minimum EAFRD contribution rate shall be 20% of the total Pillar II expenditure.
The allocation from the national exchequer to co-fund the Rural Development element of the CSP was agreed between the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, at €2.30 billion. This funding includes carbon tax funding of €723 million. This will bring the total budget for the rural development aspects to €3.86 billion, with an effective national co-financing rate of 60%.
This represents a significant increase in Pillar II funding from a number of perspectives. For example, on a five-year comparison, it is €600 million higher than the €3.26 billion initially allocated for the final five years, 2016-2020, of the previous Rural Development Programme, and more than €900 million higher than the actual spend over that period. It also represents a significant increase on the national co-financing rate of 47% under the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme.
206. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 319 of 20 January 2022, if the report on the development of a domestic woollen industry has been published; the reason for any delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34735/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Agile Executive group, a consortium made up of experts from Munster Technological University and Donegal Yarns, who were appointed to carry out the wool review have now competed this review and have presented their final report to my Department.
This report will be published very shortly.
207. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount allocated to TAMS from 2014 to date; the amount that was allocated and expended in relation to low-emission slurry spreading technology; the number of applications and refusals in relation to low-emission slurry spreading technology, by year, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34736/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraBoth I and the Department are fully committed to encouraging the use of Low Emission Spreading Equipment (LESS) equipment. To date, interest in grant aid for the purchase of LESS equipment under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) has been very strong.
An indicative budget of €395m was made available for TAMS under the current RDP (2014-2020). The total allocation for the full suite of seven TAMS measures including the Low Emission Slurry Spreading Scheme (or LESS) for the transitional period to the end of 2022 is now €507 million plus €96 million under the European Recovery Instrument (EURI) for 2021 to 2023. To date, expenditure under TAMS has exceeded €337 million.
208. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers who participated in both the beef environmental efficiency programme - suckler and the beef data and genomics programme in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34737/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraSome 15,493 farmers have applied to participate in both the Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme - Suckler (BEEP-S) and the Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP) for 2022. Payments under the BDGP and BEEP-S schemes are scheduled to issue in December 2022.
209. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount allocated to the multi-species sward measure to date; the number of applications received; the number that were successful; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34738/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraA total of 1,715 applications were received for the Multi Species Sward Measure, which closed for applications on 14th April. This resulted in 1,691 approvals being issued covering an area of 10,217ha. A very small number of applicants, 24 in total, were ineligible, principally for not meet the minimum application area of 1 Hectare as set out in the Terms and Conditions.
Participating co-ops/agri-retailers are applying a discount of €50 for each 12kg bag of the approved Multi-Species seed mixture purchased by approved applicants. Participating Co-ops/Agri-retailers can lodge up to two claims for payment. The first opportunity to lodge a claim for payment closes shortly with final claims for payment being accepted by my Department up to 1st October 2022.
210. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications for the organic farming scheme in 2021 and 2022; the number that were successful; the number that were unsuccessful and the reason therefore, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34739/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraA total of 317 Organic Farming Scheme applications were received in 2021 as outlined in the table below. A small number did not satisfy the eligibility conditions of the scheme while others had an active valid Organic Farming Scheme contract.
The 380 applications received in 2022 are currently being processed and approval letters will issue later this year.
I am confident that the budget I secured for the Organic Farming Scheme this year will be sufficient to accommodate all eligible applications. I am encouraged by the strong uptake in the Organic Farming Scheme over the last two years which will assist in achieving our target of 7.5% land area under organic production.
|
- |
No. of OFS applications |
No. Successful |
No. Unsuccessful |
Reason |
|
2021 |
317 |
300 |
17 |
13 applicants were not eligible as per the terms and conditions and 4 applicants already had a contract in place |
|
2022 |
380 |
TBD |
TBD |
211. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 1961 of 14 June 2022, his proposals to address the continued undersubscription of the organic processing investment grant scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34740/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Organic Processing Investment Grant Scheme provides funding to processors who wish to invest in developing facilities for the processing, preparation, grading, packing and storage of organic products. It is a demand led scheme and all eligible applications received are assessed based on the terms and conditions of the scheme.
I am fully committed to the development of the organic sector in Ireland. The current Programme for Government contains a commitment to align Ireland’s organic land area with that of the current EU average of approximately 7.5% over the lifetime of this Government. This I believe will lead to a corresponding increase in applications for funding in the organic processing sector and I will ensure there is sufficient budget in place to meet this anticipated increase in demand.
Minister of State Pippa Hackeet will lead a high-level trade mission to Germany next month for the organic sector to help promote organic Irish food and drink in the German market. It is through initiatives like these that we will continue to develop the sector at production and processing level.
212. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 1963 of 14 June 2022, the reason for the continued decrease in total and average payments from the organic farming scheme between 2018 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34741/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe current Organic Farming Scheme provides for contracts of five year duration for farmers who are converting to organic farming practices. A higher in conversion payment is provided for the first two years while a reduced maintenance payment rate is provided for the remainder of the contract.
The decrease in average payment per participant in the Organic Farming Scheme can be accounted for by the number of farmers who were previously on the higher in-conversion rate when they joined the scheme initially and have now moved to the maintenance rate.. As a result, with each passing year there is an overall higher percentage of farmers on the lower maintenance rate.
I have proposed an allocation of €256 million for the Organic Farming Scheme. This level of funding will facilitate enhanced payments to all organic farmers, which will further support maintenance and conversion to Organic Farming and assist in achieving our target of 7.5% of land cover under organic production by 2027.
213. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers thought to comprise the category known as the forgotten farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34742/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra‘Forgotten Farmer’ is a term used to describe a group of farmers who had set up their agricultural holdings prior to 2008, were under 40 in 2015 and held low value payment entitlements, but were ineligible for young farmer supports under the CAP from 2015.
As the purpose of the young farmer supports from 2015 was to provide support to farmers in the early years following the establishment of an agricultural holding, the Forgotten Farmer group did not meet the eligibility requirements. The most recent analysis on the basis of records available to my Department shows some 3,500 farmers in this group.
214. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the cost associated with the consultation and report on the potential for a fibre-based hemp sector in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34743/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe consultation on the potential for a fibre based hemp sector in the State was initiated by my Department under a commitment given in the Programme for Government. My Department did not engage any external consultants for this consultation or for the writing of the report so the issue of costs did not arise.
215. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of participants in the sheep welfare scheme in 2021; the number of breeding ewes on which payment was made; the rate of payment, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34758/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs set out in the terms and conditions of the Sheep Welfare Scheme, the rate of payment is set at €10 per eligible breeding ewe on completion by the participant of both of their selected scheme actions. Payment is made up to the applicable reference number of animals determined for payment for the scheme year.
Where an applicant does not complete the actions selected, or does not maintain sufficient animals to meet the applicable reference number of animals, the terms and conditions of the scheme give details of penalties and reductions in payment to be applied.
Please see the information requested below by the Deputy as regards the number of participants and breeding ewes on which payment was made for Year 5 of the scheme, broken down by county.
|
County |
Number of paid participants |
Number of eligible breeding ewes |
Amount paid |
|
Carlow |
376 |
51,766 |
€506,103.60 |
|
Cavan |
362 |
29,932 |
€293,315.58 |
|
Clare |
168 |
8,013 |
€77,084.02 |
|
Cork |
869 |
88,101 |
€855,801.92 |
|
Donegal |
3,182 |
233,754 |
€2,291,481.36 |
|
Dublin |
95 |
12,551 |
€117,232.70 |
|
Galway |
2,132 |
191,048 |
€1,877,129.08 |
|
Kerry |
1,563 |
194,880 |
€1,920,245.37 |
|
Kildare |
328 |
52,254 |
€507,327.80 |
|
Kilkenny |
255 |
32,136 |
€318,721.80 |
|
Laois |
197 |
19,724 |
€192,944.23 |
|
Leitrim |
599 |
58,991 |
€580,929.50 |
|
Limerick |
76 |
9,260 |
€91,183.30 |
|
Longford |
184 |
15,078 |
€148,400.70 |
|
Louth |
203 |
26,737 |
€262,825.30 |
|
Mayo |
2,666 |
219,738 |
€2,143,188.74 |
|
Meath |
483 |
70,962 |
€697,828.40 |
|
Monaghan |
197 |
17,072 |
€159,806.53 |
|
Offaly |
250 |
28,402 |
€280,637.57 |
|
Roscommon |
884 |
82,560 |
€815,734.71 |
|
Sligo |
784 |
69,331 |
€679,276.03 |
|
Tipperary |
381 |
50,807 |
€488,844.70 |
|
Waterford |
212 |
36,101 |
€356,930.28 |
|
Westmeath |
355 |
35,854 |
€348,780.88 |
|
Wexford |
494 |
60,237 |
€591,195.35 |
|
Wicklow |
774 |
115,982 |
€1,141,889.50 |
|
Total |
18,069 |
1,811,271 |
€17,744,838.95 |
