Written Answers Nos 221-234
221. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; if he will expedite this appeal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28942/14]
View answerThe 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 has issued to Oireachtas members.
222. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite a date for an operation in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow. [28946/14]
View answerThe National Waiting List Management Policy, A standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, January 2014, has been developed to ensure that all administrative, managerial and clinical staff follow an agreed national minimum standard for the management and administration of waiting lists for scheduled care. This policy, which has been adopted by the Health Service Executive, sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists.
In relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, I have asked the HSE to respond directly to him on this matter.
223. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Health if a medical card will be reinstated under the new discretionary guidelines in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28955/14]
View answerIn the context of the Government's decision to develop a policy framework for providing eligibility for health services on the basis of medical conditions, the Government recently announced that a medical card or GP visit card is to be issued to a person, with a serious illness, whose discretionary card was refused renewal since the centralisation of medical card assessments.
If the medical card or GP visit card to which the Deputy refers was awarded by way of discretion and was refused renewal in the period from 1 July 2011 to 31 May 2014 following the completion of an eligibility review, a card will issue by the HSE.
The HSE has commenced issuing letters to the persons concerned and this process should be concluded by the first two weeks of July. No action is required on the part of those affected as the HSE will be in contact. If people do not hear from the HSE by mid July, they should contact the HSE on its Lo-Call contact number: 1890 25 29 19. These individuals will be able to access medical card and GP visit card services in the normal manner when they have been advised by the HSE that their medical card or GP visit card is active.
The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine the specific query raised 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 has issued to Oireachtas members.
224. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health further to reports that hospital records of public patients have been released to third parties, the number of patients per acute hospital, whose personal records have been released. [28960/14]
View answer225. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health further to reports that hospital records of public patients have been released to third parties, if he will reveal all of the third parties to whom data has been released; and the number of requests each third party has made. [28961/14]
View answer226. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health further to reports that hospital records of public patients have been released to third parties, and claims from the Healthcare Pricing Office that the data was scrubbed of personal identifiers, the process used to ensure anonymity; if the Data Protection Commissioner was consulted regarding the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28962/14]
View answer227. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health further to reports that hospital records of public patients have been released to third parties, if the Health Service Executive had any correspondence with the Data Protection Commissioner regarding the practice of releasing patients’ data to third parties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28963/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 224 to 227, inclusive, together.
The HSE has confirmed that the Healthcare Pricing Office (HPO) to which the reports at the weekend referred, does not make hospital patients’ personal records available to pharmaceutical companies, insurers or any other companies.
The HPO may provide statistics on hospital activity to third parties. Such information is of an aggregate statistical nature which means that patients cannot be identified. More detailed information is provided to bodies including the National Cancer Registry, the Health Research Board as well as researchers in universities. However, I have been assured by the HPO that in providing any such data, patients’ identities are removed from the information given.
It is important to note that the HPO has implemented measures to ensure the confidentiality of hospital patient data. The full range of information about patients and their care is only available in the individual hospitals. In order to safeguard patient privacy and ensure that no patients can be personally identified, the HPO collects only a reduced range of information about patients at the national level. This means that the HPO does not collect patient names, addresses or full dates of birth. The HPO has advised me that the relevant section of the ESRI (which has since been subsumed into the HPO) met with the Data Protection Commissioner in 2010. Following on from that engagement the ESRI changed their data collection methodology to improve their data protection procedures.
My Department does not hold the list of third parties that information has been released to. For this reason, I have requested that the HSE respond directly to the Deputy on this matter.
In conclusion, I have been advised by the HPO that it is acutely aware of its responsibilities in relation to patient privacy and is fully respectful of the rights of patients in this regard. I have also been advised by the Office that it is compliant with the advice given to it by the Office of the Data Commissioner regarding its procedures governing data.
228. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport further to Parliamentary Question No. 205 of 25 June 2014, if he will answer the question raised which was the reason the State and the IAA did not reduce or eliminate the fees for the pilot training college in the same manner as was done for the English language colleges. [28805/14]
View answerI refer the Deputy to the answer I provided to parliamentary questions, numbers 604 and 617 which I answered earlier this week.
It was upon an initiative of the private English language colleges involved in the recent task force that an offer was made for students to complete their education with the colleges at a discounted fee. This came at no cost to the Exchequer. The State is not in a position to compel such a measure or to provide subvention. As I indicated before, the scale of the fees involved in language training is significantly less than that for flight training.
For its part, I am satisfied that the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) made every effort to assist the students of the pilot training college to complete their training at a reasonable cost through its engagement with the relevant training providers in Florida and here in Ireland.
The responsibility of the IAA for flight training organisations extends to the oversight of the safety, quality and standard of the training being delivered, and the conduct of examinations and flight tests to the appropriate EU standard. However, the failure of the Pilot Training College (PTC) in Waterford to meet its contractual obligations to students is a matter of company law and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement is the appropriate body to investigate any alleged breaches of company law.
229. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will outline in tabular form the total number of sick days taken by staff in his Department in 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014 further broken down by uncertified, certified and long-term absence leave. [28836/14]
View answerThe information the deputy has requested for my Department is contained in the following table.
|
Detail |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 - (to date) |
|
Total Sick Leave days |
5365 |
4318 |
4100 |
1984 |
|
Total of which Certified |
4926 |
3954 |
3854 |
1784 |
|
of which part of long-term absence* |
2991 |
2161 |
2244 |
904 |
|
Total of Self/Uncertified days |
440 |
363 |
246 |
200 |
(* absence of 30 days or more.)
230. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide in tabular form per annum all external consultant reports commissioned by his Department since March 2011; the costs per report; the company involved; the title of the report and the publication date. [28851/14]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is published on my Department's website and can be found at the following link, which covers spending on all external services. http://www.dttas.ie/corporate/english/expenditure-external-services.
231. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he has considered the 2012 report by the Ombudsman for Children on the operation of the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002; his views on each of the proposed revisions; his plans to amend the 2002 Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28765/14]
View answerThe Ombudsman for Children produced a report in March 2012 entitled ‘A Report by the Ombudsman for Children on the operation of the Ombudsman for Children Act 2002’. This was in accordance with her role under Section 7 of the 2002 Act to review the operation of the legislation and she laid the report before the Houses of the Oireachtas in accordance with Section 13 of the Act. This report contains a number of recommendations on a range of topics, some particular to specific sectors, including Justice and Education, and others with wider implications. Many of the recommendations, particularly relating to the remit of the Ombudsman for Children have already been implemented, primarily through the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012.
One of the recommendations was to extend the remit of the Ombudsman for Children to complaints in respect of boys detained in St. Patrick's Institution. The Deputy will already be aware that my predecessor, Minister Frances Fitzgerald, made an Order by Statutory Instrument Number 210 of 2012 which took effect on 1st July 2012, in consultation with the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter, to extend the remit for the Ombudsman for Children to include children in detention in St Patrick's Institution.
The Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 primarily addressed the office of the Ombudsman and significantly amended the Ombudsman Act 1980. In the process towards the enactment of the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012, my Department worked closely with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Ombudsman for Children to achieve a significant expansion of the remit of her office. With effect from 1st May 2013, the bodies within the remit of each Ombudsman and the process for changes to their remits have been greatly expanded and largely aligned. As a result of amendments contained in sections 4 and 22 of the Ombudsman (Amendment) Act 2012 any reviewable agency which comes under the remit of the Ombudsman will now automatically come under the remit of the Ombudsman for Children. The First Schedule to the 2012 Act lists all "reviewable agencies" and Part II of that schedule lists the elements of those reviewable agencies that do not come within the remit of the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children. The Second Schedule to that Act lists the "exempt agenices". Thus the jurisdictions of both offices are aligned and there is legal certainty and clarity on the matter.
Some outstanding recommendations from the above-mentioned reports of March 2012 are being reviewed in conjunction with other Departments and I will consider the need to bring forward legislative proposals in due course, if appropriate.
232. Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his plans to put in place legislation which will compel hospitals to release joint personal information on both the mother and child to the children who were adopted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28820/14]
View answerMy Department is continuing work on the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill and I hope to be in a position to seek Government approval to publish the Heads of the Bill as soon as possible. While I am anxious to improve the legal basis for access to adoption records, proposals to Government have to reflect the constraints on the Legislature in providing such access if they are not to fall foul of Constitutional challenge. The Office of the Attorney General has provided comprehensive legal advice to the Department that has assisted in identifying the Constitutional parameters within which the Heads of the Bill have to be drafted. The most difficult situations to address within the proposed legislation are those where the consent of other parties, such as natural mothers, does not exist for the release of information.
It is intended to proceed to finalise legislative proposals so that I may bring a General Scheme and Heads of Bill to the Government as soon as possible. Subsequent consideration by the Oireachtas Health and Children Committee will allow the issues to be carefully examined and the views of different interested parties on these important and sensitive matters to be fully considered.
233. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will outline in tabular form the total number of sick days taken by staff in his Department in 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014 further broken down by uncertified, certified and long-term absence leave. [28824/14]
View answerAs my Department was established on 2nd June 2011, the information requested by the Deputy is provided from June 2011 onwards. Absenteeism information relating to staff currently employed by my Department up to end May 2011 will be included in the returns from the Departments where the staff involved were employed prior to transfer to my Department.
Department of Children and Youth Affairs*
|
Year |
Sick Leave Absence Uncertified Sick Days |
Sick Leave Absence Certified Sick Days |
Total sick leave absence (Uncertified and Certified Sick Days) |
No. of instances of Long Term Absence Leave (defined as an absence greater than 4 weeks duration) |
|
2011 (2 June to 31 December) |
69 |
641 |
710 |
4 |
|
2012 |
119 |
934 |
1,053 |
5 |
|
2013 |
75 |
1096 |
1,171 |
9 |
|
2014 (Data for end 3/14) |
41 |
513 |
554 |
6 |
* Please note this data excludes staff seconded to other Departments/Agencies
234. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if he will provide in tabular form per annum all external consultant reports commissioned by his Department since March 2011; the costs per report; the company involved; the title of the report and the publication date. [28839/14]
View answerIn order to deliver key commitments in relation to children and young people and to put in place a unified framework of policy, legislation and provision across Government in respect of children and young people, it is at times necessary to commission reports and utilise expertise from a range of expert individuals and bodies. My Department ensures that all reports commissioned are of direct relevance to the operational and policy commitments of my Department.
I have set out the full range of external consultant reports commissioned by my Department. Costs may include, where applicable, copy editing, design and other costs relating to publication. Separate material is provided in respect of the Growing Up in Ireland study.
|
Name of External Report |
Date of Commission |
Date/expected - date of Publication |
Name of External Consultant |
Cost of Report |
|
Audit of Children and Young people’s Participation in decision making in Ireland |
November 2009 |
November 2011 |
Cnag ar an Doras and Sandra Roe (joint contract) |
€19,890.42 |
|
National Consultation with Children Living in the Care of the State |
November 2010 |
July 2011 |
Cnag ar an Doras |
€25,610.00 |
|
Body Image Survey Report |
March 2011 |
October 2011 |
Anam Cara |
€6,800.00 |
|
Youth Work: A Systematic Map of the Research Literature |
September 2011 |
June 2013 |
Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of (EPPI-Centre) London. |
€67,000 |
|
Valuation report |
November 2011 |
Internal use only |
Elliott Fitzgerald Ltd. |
€1,230.00 |
|
Needs Assessment for the Redevelopment of www.childrensdatabase.ie |
December 2011 |
Internal use only |
Centre for Effective Services |
€18,400 |
|
Every Child a Home: A Review of the Implementation of the Youth Homelessness Strategy |
December 2011 |
July 2013 |
Centre for Effective Services Penhouse Design Intacta Print - Carole Devaney for proofing of report and of briefing note |
€6,000 €5,522.70 €4,706.57 €1,360.00 Total: €17,589.27 |
|
Comhairle na nÓg and Garda Siochana survey on the Attitudes of Gardaí to Young People. Questionnaire for Gardaí and Young People |
July 2012 |
Publication date to be finalised |
Anam Cara |
€7,650 |
|
Public Knowledge and Attitudes Relating to Children’s Rights, Welfare, Protection and Services |
July 2012 |
Publication date to be finalised |
Behaviour and Attitudes Qualitative Research – Group Facilitation Quantitative Research – Interviews Barometer Research |
€42,864.98 €59,040.00 €1,107.00 Total: €103,011.98 |
|
Ireland’s Consolidated 3rd and 4th Report to the United Nations Committee in the Rights of the Child |
July 2012 |
July 2013 |
Ms. Carmel Corrigan – Drafting of Report Ms. Carol Devaney – Editing, Formatting and Indexing |
€12,600 €4,760 Total: €17,360 |
|
Strategic Human Resources |
December 2012 |
April 2013 |
Mazars |
€20,602.50 |
|
Summary Report for Young Voices Have Your Say- Structured Dialogue |
January 2013 |
March 2013 |
Cnag ar an Doras |
€4,918 |
|
Care Issues Review |
March 2013 |
Internal use only |
Victor McElfatrick |
€3,556.56 |
|
Report on Structural Damage |
March 2013 |
Internal use only |
Frontier Engineering Group Ltd. |
€7,668.74 |
|
Staff Roster Review |
April 2013 |
Internal use only |
McGuinness Killen Partnership |
€6,715.80 |
|
Role Review for Child & Family Agency |
May 2013 |
November 2013 |
Mazars |
€16,512.75 |
|
Care Issues Review |
September 2013 |
Internal use only |
Conal Devine & Associates |
€13,636.21 |
|
Care Issues Review |
February 2014 |
Internal use only |
Kieran McGrath |
€13,500 |
Growing Up in Ireland
In 2006 a Contract to carry out the National Longitudinal Study of Children in Ireland was awarded by the Department of Health and Children (through the Office of the Minister For Children & Youth Affairs) to a consortium comprising of the ESRI and the Children’s Research Centre at TCD. Since then the Study has adopted the working title of 'Growing Up in Ireland'. As part of this overall contract the ESRI/TCD are required to prepare and publish reports from time to time. The Department of Children and Youth Affairs meets the costs of printing these reports and since this Department was established in June 2011 the total cost of printing was €20,926.45.
