Written Answers Nos. 646-664
646. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Health the steps that he is taking to avoid further private nursing homes closures following inflationary cost increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53136/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra647. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Health when he intends to increase funding to private nursing homes under the fair deal scheme to maintain services and manage inflationary increases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53137/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra648. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Health the measures that are included in the €144 million temporary assistance payment scheme for private nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53138/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 646, 647 and 648 together.
I am acutely aware of the specific challenges faced by the nursing homes sector related to price inflation and increased energy costs. It is imperative that nursing homes manage potential cost pressures in line with their regulatory and contractual responsibilities, maintaining their quality of care so that residents’ lived experience and comfort is not affected. The Government has provided substantial supports to the nursing home sector over the course of the pandemic. Over €144 million has been claimed by nursing homes under the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) since its introduction in 2020. The Government has now agreed to extend TAPS to the end of the year by maintaining the availability of Outbreak Assistance support. Substantial additional supports have also been provided by the HSE in terms of serial testing, PPE, the deployment of specialist teams and other services. Many of these supports continue. Budget 2023 saw an additional €180 million of funding for services for older people for winter 2022 and into 2023, building on unprecedented increases of recent years. This will bring investment in these services to over €2.4 billion in 2023, including nearly €12 million of new developments. Prior to Budget Day I stated that my priority was to secure additional funding for Budget 2023 to ensure the continuation of all services to a high standard. Long-term residential care will be supported through additional funding for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) to maintain services and manage inflationary increases. In addition, a significant fund of up to €100m has been allocated this year to support community based service providers who are such an essential pillar in the provision of Health services across country. This fund is being made available in recognition of the challenges being faced by the sector in delivering and maintaining key health and social care services against a backdrop of increased inflationary pressures affecting energy, heating and related costs. These organisations are funded through the HSE to deliver a range of health and social care services on behalf of the HSE to communities around Ireland. This includes residential, day and ancillary services for people with a disability, older people, mental health services, palliative care services, addiction services and other health and social care services provided in the community. The details of the plan are being finalised. It is proposed that the inflation support fund will be administered by the HSE utilising the mechanisms in place for funding eligible organisations in receipt of Service Level Arrangements and Grant Aid Agreements. These arrangements are already in place with organisations that provide key health and social care services for people in Ireland. It is proposed that payments will be made to eligible organisations in the final quarter of 2022 to meet the pressures of this coming winter. Many eligible organisations may be already operating within a context of increased inflationary pressures. For providers of long-term residential care who participate in the nursing home support scheme, funding will be allocated through the established mechanism of the Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme. Precise details of the scheme are being finalised and will be communicated in the coming days. To address strategic workforce challenges in the nursing home and home care sector, a Cross-Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group (SWAG) was established in March 2022 and published a report on October 15th outlining 16 key recommendations spanning the areas of recruitment and retention, pay and conditions and overall sectoral reform. I strongly endorse the Group’s recommendations to address the critical shortage of care workers in Ireland and a dedicated Implementation Group will start to progress these immediately. Funding to support people to access services in the sector continues to be provided in line with the long-established statutory mechanisms under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act 2009. This is the mechanism established by the Oireachtas to provide for the processes relating to funding under the NHSS and the negotiation of prices for services for private and voluntary providers with the designated State agency, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). Maximum prices for individual nursing homes are agreed with the NTPF following negotiations and based on the NTPF’s cost criteria. These criteria include costs reasonably incurred by the nursing home, local market prices, historic prices and overall budgetary capacity. The NTPF carry out this role independently under the NHSS Act 2009. The NTPF has statutory independence, and there is no role for Ministers or the Department of Health in these negotiations. The Department of Health published a review of the NTPF pricing system in June 2021. It recommended several actions to improve the pricing system which are now being taken forward by the Department of Health and the NTPF.
650. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 580 of 4 October 2022, if he will provide details, in tabular form, relating to the panel of education assessors engaged by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53148/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question relates to an operational matter, I have asked the NMBI to respond directly to the Deputy.
651. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if details will be provided on the turnover of permanent, contract, agency and other staff (details supplied) in the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland from January 2021 to September 2022 by month, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53161/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question relates to an operational matter, I have asked the NMBI to respond directly to the Deputy.
652. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health the number of minor injuries units in hospitals across the State; the hours each minor injuries unit operate; the number of patients treated in each unit in the years of 2020, 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [53186/22]
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.
653. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health the number of clinical specialist teams for older persons that have been established; the current staffing complement for each team; and the number of vacancies in each team. [53187/22]
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.
654. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health the number of community resident placements that currently exist within CHO9; the number by provider; the names of providers providing these placements; the change in numbers between 2017 and 2022; the plans, if any, to expand the number of placements in future years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53217/22]
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.
655. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 209 of 12 October 2022, the dates on which Department officials liaised with the Mental Health Commission with regard to the proposed closure of the Owenacurra Centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53236/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs I indicated in my previous comprehensive reply to the Deputy, both the HSE and the Mental Health Commission have certain statutory responsibilities in relation to the provision of Mental Health care generally, including this particular issue.
While Department of Health officials have regular Governance meetings with the Mental Health Commission to review relevant issues at a high level, it would not be appropriate for the Mental Health Commission (MHC) to engage with the Department of Health or the Minister with regard to the HSE’s decision to close Owenacurra. The MHC is an independent regulator of mental health services.
As previously advised, the Deputy can rest assured that I will continue to monitor this issue closely, as appropriate.
656. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 458 of 13 October 2022, if he will provide details of any pay scheme that may have been agreed by his Department for section 39 healthcare workers who are unable to work due to long-Covid; the way in which this scheme differs from the pay scheme for other healthcare workers with long-Covid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53237/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder section 39 of the Health Act 2004, the HSE provides financial assistance to organisations to provide services similar or supplementary to a service that the HSE may provide. Both I and my Department acknowledge the important role that Section 39 organisations and staff play in our health sector. They have a key role in providing services to people with disabilities and older people. However, Section 39 organisations are privately owned and run. Their terms and conditions of employment such as their sick leave policies etc, once in line with employment legislation, are strictly a matter between the employer and the employee.
657. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the services and or supports that are available to women in hospital following a miscarriage, in relation to pregnancy loss and stillbirth per CHO area; and the referral pathways upon discharge in tabular form. [53249/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the National Women and Infants Health Programme in the Health Service Executive leads on the management, organisation and delivery of maternity, gynaecological and neonatal services, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
658. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Health the number of assessments of needs’ that have been completed to date in 2022; the number of assessments awaiting completion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53265/22]
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.
659. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Health the current staffing levels in children's disability network teams 4, 5 and in east Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53266/22]
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.
660. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Health if the HSE can provide shower chairs for people with disabilities who cannot stand on their own; if one will be provided for a person (details supplied); the reason that they have been refused a chair to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53285/22]
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.
661. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Health the regulations that are in place for retailers who supply tanning and sun beds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53294/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe public health legislation relating to sunbeds is the Public Health (Sunbeds) Act 2014 (No. 12 of 2014) which was introduced in 2014 and was commenced throughout 2014 and 2015. Under this Act there is a prohibition on:
(i) allowing a person under 18 years of age to use a sunbed on a sunbed premises;
(ii) allowing a person under 18 years of age to be in a “restricted area” except where employed or providing services;
(iii) selling the use of a sunbed on a sunbed premises to a person under 18 years of age;
(iv) the sale or hire of sunbeds to a person under 18 years of age;
(v) permitting any person to use a sunbed on a sunbed premises without supervision;
(vi) employing a person under 18 years of age to supervise the use of a sunbed on a sunbed premises;
(vii) offering the use, sale, or hire of a sunbed free of charge;
(viii) the use of certain marketing practices (for example, early bird or “two for the price of one” offers), as prescribed in the Public Health (Sunbeds) (Prohibition of Certain Marketing Practices) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 51 of 2015);
(ix) making available or displaying any material that promotes a health or other benefit from sunbed use other than information prescribed by the Minister;
(x) allowing a person to be in a “restricted area” unless
a. the person concerned has signed the prescribed form,
b. they are in the course of their employment or providing a service
This Act also places an obligation on sunbed businesses to:
(i) make protective eyewear, which complies with the European Standard, available to a person who proposes to use, purchase or hire a sunbed;
(ii) maintain a sunbed and sunbed premises in a clean and hygienic condition;
(iii) display warning signs as prescribed under the Public Health (Sunbeds) (Warning Signs) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 53 of 2015);
(iv) ensure that a copy of the health information as prescribed in the Public Health (Sunbeds) (Health Information) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 50 of 2015) is provided to a person each time he or she proposes to use, hire or purchase a sunbed and a requirement that the person sign the form confirming that they have been provided with a copy of the health information and have had an opportunity to read and consider it;
(v) notify the Health Service Executive (HSE) in accordance with the Public Health (Sunbeds) (Notification) Regulations 2015. (S.I. No. 52 of 2015) and pay the required fee (€120 annually).
The HSE is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the Public Health (Sunbeds) Act 2014 (No. 12 of 2014).
662. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Health if his Department is engaging with the HSE for a public awareness campaign on the dangers of tanning and sun beds, especially for younger people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53295/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department has co-funded the SunSmart communications campaign with the HSE in both 2021 and 2022. This campaign aims to raise awareness and adoption of, skin protection behaviours, focusing on target groups within the Irish population which are: general population; parents of children; young people; outdoor workers; people who participate in sports or outdoor activities; sunbed users.
The campaign which ran from April to the end of September, was rolled out across radio (both national and local), digital audio and social media. This year saw the campaign extended to other social media platforms such as TikTok and Snapchat, in an effort to reach younger audiences.
As part of this year's campaign, an art competition for primary school age children was ran for the first time. The "Get SunSmart" art competition urged children to either colour in SunSmart images or draw a picture showing how to be SunSmart, depending on their age category. The competition ran from mid-May to the end of June and received over 500 entries.
A series of opportunistic press releases were issued by the HSE in partnership with Healthy Ireland, as part of the campaign, to coincide with key dates such as bank holiday weekends, and school holidays. A press release highlighting the dangers of sunbeds was also issued in August.
The Youth Advisory Group was consulted on all social media imagery developed for the campaign. This year the campaign included messaging on the dangers of sunbeds for the first time. Development of this messaging took on board the findings of a consultation with children and young people held in October 2021, around the development of skin protection resources. Consultations were held with young people aged 12 to 18 and included young people from the travelling community.
663. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Health if audits of compliance are carried out on retailers who offer tanning and sun beds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53296/22]
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.
664. Deputy Alan Farrell asked the Minister for Health the number of diagnoses of melanoma that were made through the HSE in each of the years 2019, 2020 and 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53297/22]
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.
