Written Answers Nos. 1012-1034
1014. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on the work of the Covid-19 evaluation panel; the timeframe for completion; the costs to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7614/26]
View answerIreland’s COVID-19 Evaluation is an independent non-statutory entity of which this Department has no remit over. This question should be to the Department of the Taoiseach.
1015. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the changes she has implemented to address the issues identified in reports on the nursing home sector (details supplied); the further actions she intends to take to reform the way in which nursing homes are regulated and funded; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7618/26]
View answer1016. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of private residential properties owned by persons in receipt of support under the nursing homes support scheme that were rented out in each year since the Fair Deal rental income reforms came into effect in early 2024; the total number of such properties currently rented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7665/26]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1017. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of properties associated with nursing homes support scheme applicants that were identified by her Department or the HSE as potentially suitable for rental prior to the 2024 Fair Deal rental income reforms; the evidence base used at that time to estimate that thousands of homes would enter the rental market; and if she will publish the underlying analysis. [7666/26]
View answer1018. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has conducted any post-implementation review of the 2024 Fair Deal rental income reforms; whether barriers such as legal complexity, family consent issues, tenancy duration rules, or interaction with wider rental legislation were identified as limiting take-up; and what corrective actions are now proposed. [7667/26]
View answer1019. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what engagement has taken place between her Department, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the HSE to assess the impact of wider rental market reforms on the willingness of nursing homes support scheme participants to rent out their properties; and whether any cross-departmental measures are planned to increase participation. [7668/26]
View answer1020. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department or the HSE has undertaken, commissioned, or reviewed any health economic or cost-benefit analysis on the use of GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines, including tirzepatide and semaglutide, for obesity treatment and the prevention of type 2 diabetes; if so, the details and outcomes of any such analysis; and if not, whether she intends to commission such an assessment in light of evidence on long-term savings to the health service. [7676/26]
View answer1021. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current policy position of her Department regarding the reimbursement of GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines under the Drugs Payment Scheme; whether any review is under way to consider broader eligibility criteria; and the expected timeline for any decision on changes to reimbursement policy. [7677/26]
View answer1022. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the potential impact of GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines on reducing the future incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and associated complications; whether such preventative outcomes are factored into medicines reimbursement decisions; and if she will outline how prevention-based savings are weighted in funding assessments. [7678/26]
View answer1023. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what consideration has been given to the equity implications of high out-of-pocket costs for GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines; whether the Department has examined the risk of access being determined by ability to pay rather than clinical need; and if she will outline any measures under consideration to address this issue. [7679/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1020, 1021, 1022 and 1023 together.
The current Obesity Policy and Action Plan (OPAP) was launched in September 2016 under the auspices of the Healthy Ireland Framework (Healthy Ireland: A Framework for Improved Health and Wellbeing 2013-2025). OPAP covers a 10-year period up to 2025 and the overall aim is to reverse obesity trends, prevent health complications, and reduce the impact of overweight and obesity on health outcomes for individuals, families, the health system, and the wider society and economy. It recognises that obesity is a complex, multi-faceted problem and needs a multi-pronged solution, with every sector of society playing its part. OPAP is well aligned with the World Health Organisation in terms of the breadth of policy measures that have been introduced or are being considered in order to address the obesity epidemic.
Under OPAP, Ireland put in place a comprehensive, cross-Government strategy to address obesity and overweight. Since 2016 significant progress has been made in delivering on the Ten Step Programme of OPAP and to drive policy initiatives and actions, ranging from health promotion and education initiatives and obesity prevention measures through to establishing services to treat and manage obesity within the health care system.
The Department of Health is currently in the process of developing a new obesity strategy. Over the last year, extensive consultation has been carried out with public health experts and the public through a number of workshops, focus groups and a public consultation. The results of these will be used to inform the development of the new strategy, which is expected to be published this year.
In terms of current access to GLP-1 medications, the HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the community drugs schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. Under the 2013 Act, reimbursement is for licenced indications which have been granted market authorisation either by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).
The HSE is committed to providing access to as many medicines as possible, in as timely a fashion as possible, from the resources available (provided) to it.
The HSE robustly assesses applications for pricing and reimbursement to make sure that it can stretch available resources as far as possible and to deliver the best value in relation to each medicine and ultimately more medicines to Irish citizens and patients.
HSE decisions on which medicines are reimbursed by the taxpayer are made on objective, scientific and economic grounds.
There are formal processes which govern applications for the pricing and reimbursement of medicines, and new uses of existing medicines, to be funded and / or reimbursed.
The HSE considers the following criteria prior to making any decision on pricing / reimbursement of medicines including GLP-1 medicines, in line with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013:
(1) The health needs of the public,
(2) The cost effectiveness of meeting health needs by supplying the item concerned rather than providing other health services,
(3) The availability and suitability of items for supply or reimbursement,
(4) The proposed costs, benefits, and risks of the item or listed item relative to therapeutically similar items or listed items provided in other health service settings and the level of certainty in relation to the evidence of those costs, benefits and risks,
(5) The potential or actual budget impact of the item or listed item,
(6) The clinical need for the item or listed item,
(7) The appropriate level of clinical supervision required in relation to the item to ensure patient safety,
(8) The efficacy (performance in trial), effectiveness (performance in real situations) and added therapeutic benefit against existing standards of treatment (how much better it treats a condition than existing therapies) and,
(9) The resources available to the HSE.
Medicines are added to the formal Reimbursement List following detailed assessments which include assessment of the clinical evidence, the economic evidence and the budget impact of a decision to reimburse specific indications of a medicine. The Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) of the HSE is required to reimburse in line with approved decisions of the HSE’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT). The HSE is required to formally assess each medicine and each specific use of such medicines before reimbursing them.
Controls are in place within the HSE on claiming processes to ensure that only HSE approved indications are reimbursed across a range of medicines. Controls are currently in place for the Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists to restrict reimbursement support to the HSE approved indication of Diabetes. This includes Ozempic® (semaglutide) and Trulicity® (Dulaglutide). Therefore, these products are not reimbursed under the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) and are confined to those persons with full General Medical Services (GMS/Medical Card) and Long-Term Illness (Diabetes Mellitus) eligibility.
Diabetes is one of the Long-Term Illness (LTI) conditions for which eligible LTI persons can access their medicines to treat their Diabetes free of charge. Patients diagnosed with Diabetes Mellitus are entitled to be registered under the LTI Scheme.
Liraglutide (Saxenda®) 6 mg/ml solution for injection in pre-filled pen is the only product currently approved under Community Drug Schemes (GMS/Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS)) for weight management with a managed access system in place.
Mounjaro® (tirzepatide) and Wegovy® (semaglutide) are currently undergoing formal pricing and reimbursement assessments by the HSE.
1024. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of approved occupational therapy posts, per population, in psychiatry of later life services across each health region; if there are integrated health areas that currently do not have approved occupational therapy posts, in tabular form [7685/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
1025. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of approved social work posts, per population, in psychiatry of later life services across each health region; if there are integrated health areas that currently do not have approved social work posts, in tabular form [7686/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
1026. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of approved community mental health nurse posts, per population, in psychiatry of later life services across each health region; if there are integrated health areas that currently do not have approved community mental health nurse posts, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7687/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
1031. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that there is currently no head child psychologist currently working in Wexford Primary Care Psychology Service for Children and Adolescents; that the current waitlist for this service is three years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7705/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
