Written Answers Nos. 574-593
574. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health the HSE policy on the allocation of available homecare support assistants in each CHO; if the allocation is carried out based on severity of need or other factors; if not, his views on whether it should be; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47934/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
575. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health the reason that evusheld has not been made available in Ireland given that it has been approved by the European Medicines Agency and is in wide use in Europe and America. [47935/22]
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.
576. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the number of applications for the treatment-abroad scheme under a specific treatment (details supplied); the total cost to the Exchequer; and if efforts are being made to offer same within the State.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47938/22]
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.
577. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if additional staff will be employed to meet the increased demand for services in view of the transfer of ophthalmology outpatient department, eye casualty and operating theatre sessions from Cork University Hospital and the Mercy University Hospital, Cork to the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork and the scheduled opening new ophthalmology centre in Ballincollig; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47961/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter for the Health Service Executive, the HSE has been requested to respond directly to the Deputy.
578. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he and his Department will engage with the HSE to put in place the necessary procedures for the employment of theatre assistants in view of the major challenge of the shortage of theatre nurses in many hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47963/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department engages with the HSE in relation to requests to add new grades to the Health Sector Consolidated Salary Scales regularly. As the creation of new grades, such as Theatre Assistants, is an operational matter for the Health Service Executive, the HSE has been requested to respond directly to the Deputy.
579. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health his views on matters raised in correspondence (details supplied) in relation to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47964/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Nurses and Midwives Act, 2011, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) is responsible for the regulation of nurses and midwives in Ireland, including their registration. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the NMBI has confirmed to my Department that all nurses and midwives from overseas applying to join the Register do so through the digital portal, MyNMBI. This system, which was introduced in 2020, digitised the recognition and registration process for all applicants and registrants. As a result, all overseas applicants upload their documentation to the portal and the documentation is then assessed by NMBI.
As the Deputy may be aware, the NMBI has a number of statutory obligations to protect the public in its dealings with nurses and midwives and to protect the integrity of the practice of the professions of nursing and midwifery. Maintaining a high level of scrutiny in the assessment of registration applications is an essential element of this protection. In all cases, it is necessary for NMBI to secure independent verification from overseas regulators. Some of these regulators issue the required documents in hardcopy format only, by posting directly to NMBI. It is necessary therefore, in these limited circumstances, that the digitised system has the flexibility to allow documents to be uploaded manually. The digitised system, MyNMBI, has facilitated the processing of an increasing number of overseas applications which has resulted in more nurses and midwives joining the Irish healthcare sector.
580. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he can provide details of the current staffing cohort in the NMBI Registration Department broken down into IE section, EU section, Non-EU section and numbers of ancillary staff supporting the overall registration department to include numbers of education assessors, consultants, and external staff providers (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47965/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question relates to an operational matter, I have asked the NMBI to respond directly to the Deputy.
581. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he can provide further information regarding the NMBI's summer series events held in June 2022 in UCC, TUS Athlone Campus, St Angela's College Sligo and ATU Letterkenny campus (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47966/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question relates to an operational matter, I have asked the NMBI to respond directly to the Deputy.
582. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health if workers within an organisation (details supplied) are eligible to receive the Covid-19 pandemic bonus payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47967/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFirstly, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all healthcare workers for their efforts during this most challenging period.
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. This measure will be ring fenced to staff working ordinarily onsite in COVID-19 exposed healthcare environments.
It is hoped that information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/Section 38 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. Members of the Defence Forces redeployed to work in frontline Covid-19 exposed environments in the HSE;
6. Paramedics employed by Dublin Fire Brigade to deliver services on behalf of the HSE.
The above 6 areas only are covered by this Government Decision and all eligible workers will be paid in accordance with the overarching eligibility criteria in place.
Please be assured that work on rolling out payment to non-HSE/Section 38 organisations is being prioritised.
I would also like to remind the Deputy that it is against Department policy to comment on individual cases.
583. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Health the status of the Commission on Care; the terms of reference for the Commission; the membership of the Commission; the expected timeline for the completion of the Commission's work; the status of the initial review on all relevant age-related strategies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47974/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to supporting healthy and positive ageing throughout the life-course as well as to ensuring that older persons can continue to live independently in their homes and communities for as long as possible. At present, this objective is supported by the National Positive Ageing Strategy (2013), which provides a blueprint for whole-of-government policy-making and service-delivery in partnership with the community and voluntary sector. However, acknowledging the disproportionately negative impact of the pandemic on older persons, the Programme for Government (2020) commits to establishing a commission to examine care and supports for older people.
Desk-research has been undertaken within the Department of Health in preparation for the establishment of a commission on care. This encompassed an international review of relevant initiatives undertaken in other jurisdictions in recent years as well as some preliminary project-planning. The conclusions of this initial scoping exercise, along with an outline proposal for the commission, were presented to Minister Butler earlier this year. It is envisaged that the commission will support a whole-of-government approach to examining the plethora of existing policies and strategies which are of relevance to supporting positive and healthy ageing. Drawing on lessons learnt internationally as well as on stakeholder-engagement, it is also anticipated that the commission will make recommendations to effectively address the gaps which currently exist in the policy-landscape.
While the terms of reference, membership and timelines for the commission have yet to be determined, it is anticipated that, staffing resources within the Department of Health permitting, the commission will be established in the new year.
584. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the work of the cross-departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group; the number of times the group has met to date; the dates of each meeting; if she has received the recommendations and proposed action plan from the group to date, as expected by September 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47975/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn March 2022 I established the cross-departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group to examine strategic workforce challenges in publicly and privately provided front-line carer roles in home-support and nursing homes, and to develop recommendations to address these. The Group met six times between March and August 2022 on the following dates:
- 3 March
- 10 March
- 24 March
- 28 April
- 7 July
- 18 August.
In addition, the Group undertook a structured programme of stakeholder-engagement to gain insight into the challenges arising from the perspective of key sectoral groups.
The report of the Group, which outlines their key findings and recommendations, is currently being finalised prior to submission to me for my consideration.
585. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Health when a child (details supplied) who has twice been refereed to CAMHS Roscommon, the latest being in July 2022, will be called for an assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47976/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
586. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Health if there are any proposals to extend a ban on smoking outdoors at public or private buildings for the benefit of public health; if there are plans to ban persons from congregating and smoking outside; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47991/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe protection of children and the denormalisation of smoking are at the heart of Tobacco Free Ireland, our national tobacco control strategy. Tobacco Free Ireland contains a number of recommendations regarding the development of tobacco free environments in educational, sporting, healthcare and governmental facilities. It also promotes the development of tobacco free environments such as parks, playgrounds and beaches through engagement with local authorities.
Much progress has been made in implementing these recommendations; the HSE operates a tobacco free campus policy; community led campaigns such as ‘Not Around Us’ are working to make public spaces smoke free across several counties including Limerick, Galway, Clare and Wexford and sporting organisations such as Sports Ireland and the GAA are working to ensure sporting facilities are tobacco free. My Department will continue to work with the relevant stakeholders to enhance the development of smoke free environments across all areas of society and we will also continue to review the scientific basis and public health rationale for the introduction of further actions to reduce the prevalence of smoking and protect public health.
587. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Health when the staff of a nursing home (details supplied) will receive the €1,000 pandemic bonus payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47992/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra
588. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the number of persons that are attending University of Limerick Hospitals Group adult diabetes service and who are using insulin pump therapy to manage their condition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47995/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra589. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the number of persons that are attending the University of Limerick Hospitals Group paediatric diabetes service and who are using insulin pump therapy to manage their conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47996/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra699. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who are attending the adult diabetes service of University Limerick Hospitals Group and using insulin pump therapy to manage their condition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48508/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra700. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who are attending the paediatric diabetes service of University Limerick Hospitals Group and using insulin pump therapy to manage their condition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48509/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 588, 589, 699 and 700 together.
As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
590. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the directive or clinical recommendations the HSE gives its medical consultants for prescribing insulin pumps for adults diagnosed with type 1 diabetes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47997/22]
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.
591. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the number of persons with diabetes who are awaiting a first appointment to the adult outpatient’s diabetes clinic in any of the University of Limerick Hospitals Group hospitals; the number of persons waiting for time periods (details supplied) in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47998/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra702. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health the number of persons with diabetes who are awaiting a first appointment to the adult outpatients diabetes clinic in any of the UL Hospitals Group hospitals; the number of persons waiting for time periods (details supplied) in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48511/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 591 and 702 together.
As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
592. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the process that is employed by the University of Limerick Hospitals Group when moving persons from the waiting list to the adults outpatient diabetes clinic list; the way that the waiting list is monitored; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47999/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra703. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health the process that is employed by UL Hospitals Group in moving persons from the waiting list to the adult out-patients diabetes clinic list; the way that the waiting list is monitored; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48512/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 592 and 703 together.
As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
593. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the reason for the closure of Ennis injury unit on 20 August 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48000/22]
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.
