Written Answers Nos. 164-172
164. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the work undertaken by his Department to date on the development of public banking here as envisaged in the programme for Government; and the planned timeframe for completion of this work. [2162/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for a Partnership Government envisages that An Post, the League of Credit Unions and other interested stakeholders will be asked to investigate and propose a new model of “community banking”, such as the Kiwibank model in New Zealand, which could be delivered through the Post Office network. The Programme for Government also includes a commitment to investigate the German Sparkassen model for the development of local public banks that operate within well-defined regions. The role of my Department in this matter will be to work with other Departments and stakeholders to examine the feasibility of these, and potentially other, models.
Senior officials from my Department had an initial meeting with their counterparts in the Department of Finance towards the end of last year and agreed to develop a work programme to examine the potential of the Sparkassen model and other models of local public banking, as referenced in the Programme for a Partnership Government.
Officials from both Departments will meet again in the next few weeks, with work anticipated to conclude by the middle of the year. It is envisaged that relevant stakeholders will be consulted as part of the work programme.
My Department has no role in respect of wider public banking issues, which are a matter for the Department of Finance.
165. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Health the measures that have been taken to date to progress the commitment in the HSE's mental health operational plan 2016 to invest in the design and development of a clinical programme for persons with comorbid mental illness and substance misuse dual diagnosis; if a working group has been established for the purposes of this programme; the number of times it has met; if a clinical lead has been appointed; when this appointment was made; if there will be a consultation process to engage with key stakeholders on the design and development of the programme; and if so, when this consultation will commence. [2024/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service issue this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
166. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health if a medical card review application will be reopened for a person (details supplied) in County Donegal who encountered difficulty in securing and returning a document during the Christmas period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2029/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible. The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for Members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information was issued to Oireachtas Members.
167. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health the actions he is taking to address the shortage of nursing staff in the short, medium and long term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2043/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs you know, my Department and the HSE are already engaged in discussions with the INMO on the issue of recruitment and retention, these talks are due to resume next week. In addition to this a number of specific measures have also been taken in relation to pay that will support the recruitment and retention of Irish nursing and midwifery graduates. Measures to date include additional pay in return for taking on some duties from doctors and an increase in the rate of pay for the student nursing placement to 70% of the first point of the staff nurse pay scale. In the last quarter of 2016 the Government approved restoration of incremental credit for 2011 to 2015 graduate nurses in respect of the 36 week clinical placement undertaken by fourth year student nurses in the context of the 2017 Estimates. All nurses and midwives are now eligible for incremental credit for the 36 week placement. There has been an increase of 1,702 nurses employed in the public health service (34,093 to 35,795) from November 2013 to November 2016.
Yesterday, the Government announced plans to increase those on annualised salaries by €1,000 for the period April to August 2017 for those on salaries up to €65,000 to address anomalies arising from the Labour Court Recommendations in respect of the Garda Associations. A benefit of this decision is that it will make jobs in nursing more attractive.
There are many initiatives currently under way to improve staffing levels throughout the country, the HSE is offering permanent posts to 2016 degree programme graduates, and full-time permanent contracts to those in temporary posts. The HSE is also focused on converting agency staffing to permanent posts, while also accepting that there is still the need to have some element of agency. The HSE's National Recruitment Service is actively operating rolling nursing recruitment campaigns. The campaigns encompass General, Mental Health, Intellectual Disability and Registered Children's Nurses, and also Midwives. In addition, a relocation package of up to €1,500 continues to be available to nurses who return from overseas. The HSE ran a three-day open recruitment event over the Christmas holiday period in Dr Steevens’ Hospital for nurses and midwives from all disciplines who are interested in working in the Irish Public Health Service. 220 attended the event. 115 nursing and midwifery candidates were deemed successful and panelled following interview.
In September 2016 the HSE set up a Project Group to review nursing workforce planning, recruitment and retention. The main objectives of this Project Group include identifying current recruitment black spots in a co-ordinated way and developing measures to incentivise and attract nurses to these essential posts.
Given recognised difficulties in filling psychiatric nursing vacancies, an additional 60 undergraduate places were put in place last autumn with a further 70 additional places to be provided this year.
168. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health the number of long stay beds that have been closed in the past six years on a county basis, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2044/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials from my Department have been in contact with the Deputy's Office requesting clarification regarding what is intended by the use of the term 'Long Stay Beds'. On receipt of this information an answer will be provided directly to the Deputy.
169. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Health if he will include the provision of primary care psychology and counselling in primary care in the new primary care centre for Celbridge, County Kildare, in view of the identified need for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2047/17]
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.
170. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Health if he has communicated the revised arrangements for the implementation of the national positive ageing strategy to stakeholders; if stakeholders' views on same will be taken into account before finalisation of the revised arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2048/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Positive Ageing Strategy (NPAS), published on 24 April 2013, provides a framework for cooperation to address age-related policy and service delivery across Government and society in the years ahead. The Strategy is intended to promote older people’s health and well-being so that older people can continue to contribute to social, economic, cultural and family life in their own communities for as long as possible, thereby representing a vision for an age-friendly society. The Strategy highlights that ageing is not just a health issue, but rather requires a whole of Government approach to address a range of social, economic and environmental factors that affect the health and well-being of our ageing citizens. The Department of Health has an overall co-ordinating and collating role for the Strategy and a more direct role for the health-related objectives.
At the launch of the Strategy, a commitment was made to publish an Implementation Plan to facilitate the translation of the Goals and Objectives of the Strategy into action on the ground. The approach to implementation originally included in the Strategy would have worked where a finite number of discrete and concrete steps could be taken after which the implementation could be deemed complete. However, many of the objectives included in this Strategy are quite broad, and can be viewed as a set of principles to which Government has committed, and which will inform policies that affect older people on an indefinite basis into the future, rather than concrete objectives that can be delivered in the short term.
The Department has therefore formulated new arrangements to implement and monitor the implementation of the National Positive Ageing Strategy. The new proposals will see mechanisms established that will give stakeholder groups effective and on-going access to Government Departments and State Agencies relevant to older people. Structures will be established for engagement between relevant Government Departments and State Agencies and relevant stakeholders on how the Strategy’s principles are being implemented. An Annual Forum for stakeholders will be established which will seek to identify what stakeholders consider to be their key priorities for Government for the coming year and the next three years. Issues will be considered on a thematic basis and will include Health, Social Protection, Transport, Security, Community Housing and Local Government, etc. Clear channels of communications will be established with relevant Government Departments assigning a named senior official to engage with stakeholder representatives on issues relevant to their remit.
The revised arrangements were approved by the Cabinet Committee on Social Policy and Public Service Reform on 27 October 2016. In advance of this, I held a meeting with organisations representing the needs and views of older people at which the organisations were informed of the plans for the revised implementation arrangements, including plans for an annual stakeholder forum. These plans were well received by the organisations, and it was agreed that an annual forum could be a useful tool in moving the implementation of the NPAS forward. Details of the new arrangements will be communicated to these stakeholders shortly and arrangements made to commence implementation. It is anticipated that the inaugural forum will take place in early 2017.
171. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will be provided a date for hip replacement surgery in St James's Hospital. [2057/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.
The scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. Should a patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he or she should take the matter up with the consultant and the hospital involved. In relation to the specific case raised, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
172. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure that the primary care reimbursement department takes all steps necessary to ensure that the freestyle libre system of glucose monitoring (details supplied) is successfully added to the long-term reimbursement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2066/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal devices 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.
