Written Answers Nos. 468-489Hospital Staff 468. Deputy Louise O'Reilly Minister for Health (Deputy Simon Harris): Hospital Staff 469. Deputy Louise O'Reilly 470. Deputy Louise O'Reilly Minister for Health (Deputy Simon Harris): The recruitment of an additional post of consultant medical oncologist with a special interest in sarcoma, based in St. Vincent’s University Hospital, was prioritised to facilitate further development of the service there. St Vincent's University Hospital is responsible for the recruitment process and the announcement of the successful candidate. The Department has been advised that, following interviews for the post, a successful candidate has been identified and an appointment will be made in due course. In the interim, patients requiring treatment for sarcoma cancer will continue to receive high quality care at St Vincent’s Hospital with care being managed by one of the hospital’s full-time oncologists. Health Services Data 471. Deputy Louise O'Reilly Minister for Health (Deputy Simon Harris): Health Services Provision 472. Deputy David Cullinane 473. Deputy David Cullinane Minister for Health (Deputy Simon Harris): The Programme for Government committed to the development of a second cath lab at University Hospital Waterford (UHW), subject to a favourable recommendation from an independent clinical review. This independent clinical review was completed by Dr. Niall Herity, one of the foremost cardiologists on these islands and a doctor of international repute. Dr Herity concluded that the needs of the effective UHW catchment population could be accommodated from a single cath lab. However, he recommended investment to enhance cardiac services at the hospital to address waiting times and to provide improved access for patients. Accordingly, an additional €500,000 has been allocated to the hospital for 2017 to provide two additional cath lab sessions per week. This entails an additional eight hours provision per week or a 20% expansion in operating hours. It is expected that this capacity will facilitate the provision of an increased volume of scheduled cardiology care at the hospital. I have asked the HSE to maximise the benefit for patients from that funding, in respect of both additional sessions at the existing cath lab and the temporary use of a mobile cath lab for a specific period. The mobile cath lab is currently being procured in line with the normal HSE procurement process. Dr. Herity further recommended that the UHW cath lab should operate as an elective lab which provides all specialised cardiac services except interventional treatment for patients who are having heart attacks (PPCI), and that the current 9 to 5 provision of these services should cease in order to allow the hospital to focus on the much larger volume of planned cath lab work. This is because highly specialised services such as primary PCI need to be carried out in a small number of hospitals where the volume of patients supports the provision of a safe service. However, as Minister for Health, I want to be sure that any service changes that are implemented will result in improved services for patients. Therefore, I have asked my Department to address the implications of Dr. Herity's recommendations by undertaking a national review of all PPCI services, with the aim of ensuring that as many patients as possible have access, on a 24/7 basis, to safe and sustainable emergency interventions following a heart attack. Health Insurance Levy 474. Deputy Eamon Scanlon Minister for Health (Deputy Simon Harris): The Risk Equalisation Scheme works by spreading the cost of insuring older and sicker people across the market, through the imposition of a stamp duty levy on every health insurance contract issued. These levies are paid into a fund, out of which risk equalisation credits are paid to insurers in order to reduce some of the additional costs they incur when insuring older, less healthy members. Recommendations are made each year by the independent Health Insurance Authority regarding the appropriate level for risk equalisation credits. The risk equalisation scheme is self-funding and exchequer neutral, neither a cost nor a benefit to the State. Medical Card Applications 475. Deputy Clare Daly Minister for Health (Deputy Simon Harris): Departmental Staff Relocation 476. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív Minister for Health (Deputy Simon Harris): Organic Farming Scheme Payments 477. Deputy Barry Cowen Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): Coillte Teoranta 478. Deputy Catherine Murphy Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): Trade Agreements 479. Deputy Willie Penrose Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): At political level, I have raised the issue with my Member State colleagues and with Commissioners Hogan and Malmström, both within the Council of Agriculture Ministers and in written form. These efforts have been reinforced at official level through similar contacts with Member States and the Commission, particularly through the Special Committee on Agriculture and the Trade Policy Committee. At the recent Agri Fish Council of Ministers meeting in June, Ireland, along with a number of other Member States, has requested that negotiations should not proceed any further until the Agriculture Council is given the opportunity to assess the balance between offers and commitments. I also continue to monitor the situation closely in co-operation with my Government colleagues, particularly the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, who leads the Government's approach in relation to trade matters. While the Commission responded to the strong lobbying by Ireland and others by excluding a beef Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) from the offers exchanged with Mercosur on 11 May 2016, there is a need for continued vigilance in relation to the conduct of these trade negotiations. We are also insisting that the timing and content of any beef TRQ offer is handled appropriately, and in a manner that safeguards the interests of the Irish and European beef sector in particular. This must also take into account the findings of the Commission’s recent cumulative impact assessment, which strongly reinforce Ireland’s position in relation to beef. They are also a very effective reminder of the need for great caution in our approach to the issue of beef TRQs. Of course the recent issues with Brazilian beef exports have been worrying. However, I would point out that the Commission was quick to react as soon as the practices uncovered in Brazil came to light. Its actions in seeking immediate suspension of certification for the establishments responsible, together with the rejection of consignments en route to the EU from those establishments, were appropriate and effective. I also welcome the harmonised approach being taken to the more intensified checks that are now being carried out on product from Brazil at EU Border Inspection Posts, and in which Ireland is playing a full part. It is vitally important that meat and meat products being exported from any country to the EU fully comply with EU standards, and that there are robust and reliable systems in place to ensure that this is the case. We cannot tolerate a situation in which EU requirements are flouted, given the potential risks for food safety and consumer health. These events demonstrate that we must remain vigilant at all times. I believe that we must therefore continue to keep this situation under ongoing review, and be ready to take additional measures if the circumstances demand it. GLAS Appeals 480. Deputy Charlie McConalogue Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): Brexit Data 481. Deputy Joan Burton Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): The Unit co-ordinates the on-going analysis, consultation and engagement activities being undertaken by a large number of administrative, technical and veterinary staff, through an internal Brexit Response Committee comprised of 16 people drawn from the wide range of Divisions affected by Brexit (including, for example, Meat and Milk Policy, Animal Health and Welfare, Food Industry Development, Economics and Planning, and Seafood Policy and Development). It also feeds into the whole-of-Government co-ordination being undertaken by the Department of the Taoiseach. The staff and administrative costs associated with the activities of the unit are paid from the Department’s Administrative Budget as required. My Department will continue to assess resource requirements on an ongoing basis as the Brexit process evolves. However the reality is that the co-ordination of responses to Brexit involves a significant number of staff across a range of divisions dealing with sectors and issues potentially impacted by Brexit. Greenhouse Gas Emissions 482. Deputy Mick Wallace Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): The 2012 Teagasc Marginal Abatement Cost Curve identified 1.1 Mt CO2 abatement potential by 2020. Agriculture accounts for about 33% of national emissions. This figure reflects the importance of agriculture to the Irish economy, the significance of an efficient grass based livestock industry and Ireland’s lack of heavy industry. The most recent EPA figues indicate that agriculture emissions are 5.5% below 1990 figures. This overall reduction in emissions from agriculture has also been influenced by measures such as the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme, Agriculture Environmental Options Scheme, Green Low Carbon Agri Environmental Scheme, Organic Scheme, supports for manure management in line with the EU Nitrates Directive, and through development of renewable energy resources. It is also of note that improvements in sustainable intensification, such as improved fertiliser use and grassland management, have occurred alongside the afforestation of 300,000 hectares of agricultural land since 1990, which has helped to maintain agricultural output. Over the period 2021 to 2030, afforestation since 1990 (i.e. all new forests planted since 1990 and up to 2020) will remove an estimated net 4.5 million tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere per annum based on the current method of accounting in EU Decision 529/2013. As the Deputy will be aware from my previous reply, my Department and its agencies have been strongly focussed on improving the efficiency of Irish farming which is fundamental to reducing emissions. Current analysis suggests that the emissions intensity per kcal of food output in 2013 is reduced approximately 14% relative to 2005 and early estimates project that the BAU 2030 emission intensity will be a quarter below the emission intensity in 2005. Further, early estimates of agriculture with additional measures is approximately 35% below 2005, although absolute emissions remain reasonably stable. It is also worth noting that we are one of a small number of EU countries to have elected to report on grassland and cropland management activities for the 2nd commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (KP) (2013-2020) so we are endeavouring to improve our understanding of the drivers of emissions from these activities with a view to developing policies and measures to reducing the source of these emissions. This will allow Ireland to take advantage of any sequestration benefits that may be allowed in the future from these activities. GLAS Administration 483. Deputy Thomas Pringle Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): Accordingly, the situation whereby an extension to the date for the completion of this action is required could only apply in respect of GLAS 1 participants whose contract start date was 1 October 2015. For these participants the action was required to have been completed by 31 March 2017. This deadline has not been extended and there are no plans to do so. Marine Institute 484. Deputy Thomas Pringle Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): Intensive preparations in September by the Marine Institute (MI), Stanford University (SU), University of Exeter (UoE) and Acadia University (AU) allowed the Irish Bluefin Tagging Programme to commence off the Co. Donegal coast in the second week of October 2016. The first tagging surveys took place between 9 and 12 October, with the second phase taking place between 22 and 26 October and 28 October and 1 November. Preliminary reporting from the Marine Institute indicates that the tagging operations were successful with 16 Wildlife Computers MinPAT tags deployed. The data transmitted by these tags gives scientists information about the location of BFT and will help the partners involved in the project to construct migratory patterns using light, temperature and depth data. A number of the tags are continuing to transmit data that will be useful in the broader context of the ICCAT scientific research to assess the abundance and distribution of blue fin tuna in the waters off the Irish coast. In that context I have asked the Marine Institute to expand the tagging programme for 2017 and this is currently in the planning phase. In future, it may prove possible to extend the scope of this project and I am committed to actively pursuing any opportunity to improve the scientific knowledge base for the stock of bluefin tuna in the waters off Ireland. I am hopeful that the gathering of such information could help build a case that might allow for an angling catch and release fishery in the future. Any such proposal would have to be based on a scientific assessment from the Marine Institute and would also need to be developed in conjunction with the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and Inland Fisheries Ireland who have responsibility for recreational fishing. Any such case will require the support of the EU Commission and approval of ICCAT. The current legal situation is that a recreational angling fishery in Ireland for bluefin tuna, even on a catch and release basis, is not possible in the absence of a national bluefin tuna quota. We do not have such a quota and it is extremely unlikely that we could obtain one in the short term as it would involve reducing the share of the Total Allowable Catch of those EU Member States that do have quota and for whom bluefin is an important commercial fishery. A small bluefin by-catch quota is available to Ireland for use in our Northern Albacore Tuna fishery and Celtic Sea herring fishery. This bycatch quota is also available to other Member States of the European Union without national quotas for bluefin tuna. Under the TAC & Quota Regulation, it is specifically prohibited to utilize this by-catch quota for recreational and/or sport fisheries, even in the context of a catch and release programme. GLAS Payments 485. Deputy Robert Troy Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): The person named has requested that the length of new hedgerow to be planted which the applicant committed to delivering in his application be reduced and this has resulted in the delay in issuing payment. My Department is actively working to resolve the issue with a view to further processing the application for payment at the earliest opportunity. Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations 486. Deputy Brendan Smith 487. Deputy Brendan Smith Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): The CAP budget is an issue of enormous importance to Ireland and the European agri-food sector. It accounts for some 37% of the overall EU budget. The recent “Reflections Paper on the future of the EU Finances” by the European Budget Commissioner outlines the demands on the EU budget post 2020 against the background of the potential impact of the UK's exit from the European Union. Other spending priorities may include areas such as migration, security, defence and development co-operation. The reflection paper points to the need to ensure that European Union budget adds value. That is a principle to which Ireland can subscribe. The CAP is a policy which has adapted over time to the needs of citizens and contributes to development in rural areas, employment creation, environmental sustainability and the provision of safe food that meets the high standards that EU consumers have come to expect. It also plays a central role in delivering the smart, sustainable and inclusive growth sought under the Europe 2020 strategy. It is important that the CAP continues to evolve in a way that supports the achievements of European priorities, particularly in the context of securing a strong CAP budget for the post-2020 period. This can only be achieved by reinforcing the relevance and effectiveness of the policy in helping to achieve broader societal goals. For now, it is worth noting that the amount of CAP funding per Member State for pillar 1, direct payments, and pillar 2, rural development, is fixed until 2020 in Regulations of the Council and European Parliament. Any change to these figures will require a co-decided amendment to these Regulations. While formal discussions on the Multi Annual Financial Framework have not yet commenced, Ireland supports the retention of a strong and well funded CAP and its position on this matter has been articulated at official and political level and is well understood in other member States and in the Commission. I will be working hard with my European counterparts to ensure that the CAP budget post 2020 provides a solid and effective foundation for the development of the sector into the future, when discussions do commence. In addition officials in my Department are also working closely with the Department of Finance on the next MFF. Horse Sport Ireland 488. Deputy Charlie McConalogue Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): GLAS Payments 489. Deputy Charlie McConalogue Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Creed): |
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