John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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113. To ask the Minister for Health the status in relation to the expansion of the newborn screening programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50842/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The expansion of the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme is a priority for me.

In 2020, I approved the addition of a condition known as ADA-SCID to this programme. The HSE are currently progressing implementation of this expansion, which will bring the total number of conditions screened to nine.

Decisions on changes to population-based screening programmes are made on the advice and recommendation of the National Screening Advisory Committee.  

This independent expert group considers and assesses evidence in a robust and transparent manner, and against internationally accepted criteria. This ensures that policy decisions are informed by the best available evidence and advice and that we can be confident that our national programmes are effective, quality assured and operating to safe standards.

The expansion of the Newborn Bloodspot Programme is a priority on the work programme of the Committee.

The Committee commissioned HIQA to review the processes in use internationally to inform the expansion of newborn bloodspot programmes. The report of this review was considered by the Committee in May of this year and subsequently published by HIQA.

The Committee has concluded that there are several potential conditions that could be selected for consideration and evidence assessment by HIQA. This work is being progressed by the Committee in consultation with my Department and the HSE, and with the involvement of clinical experts, patient advocates and other key stakeholders.

In addition, I am pleased that the National Screening Advisory Committee is currently finalising plans for its first ‘annual call’ for submissions from the public on changes to our population-based screening programmes.

This process will be launched in the coming weeks and will give a further opportunity for the public, as well as the HSE and health professionals, to make suggestions on new screening programmes, or changes to existing ones such as the Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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114. To ask the Minister for Health his views on the way that the €31 million women’s health package will be dispersed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50840/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Improving women’s health outcomes is a key priority for me and this Government. As such, I am gratified to see the €31 million euro allocated to women’s health in Budget 2022.

This additional funding supplements both the ongoing work of my Department in key areas for women and a specific dedicated allocation for innovative approaches to women’s health services nationwide, through the Women’s Health Taskforce ‘Women’s Health Fund’.

There are a number of key initiatives driving progress for women’s health which have been supported through Budget 2022.

This includes:

€8.66 million additional funding in the National Maternity Strategy, further increasing targeted investment and focus in our maternity services for the second year in a row, to ensure standard, consistent models of care for the delivery of a national maternity service, with specific focus on ensuring strengthened clinical governance and leadership within services, targeting improvement in the health and wellbeing of women accessing maternity services and enhancing midwifery care for women across the three pathways of care (supported, assisted & specialised).

An additional funding of €5million to the Women’s Health Fund. This will support delivery the women’s health action plan, anticipated to be brought to government later this year, which will outline measures needed to tackle a wide range of issues impacting women’s health in outcomes in Ireland

Aligning with the priorities set out in the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, we will see €8.98 million allocated to enable the introduction of a scheme for the provision of the most effective method of contraception, free of charge and having regard to personal circumstances, for women aged 17-25.  

A significant portion of the investment will be allocated to the continued investment in major areas of women’s health, such as gynaecological services. In 2022, we will see the establishment of a further 6 ambulatory gynaecology “see and treat” clinics, increasing the total to 20 clinics nationally, at a cost of €3.31 million; extended endometriosis services in Tallaght and Cork at a cost of €1.39 million; and further developments will be made in menopause care by establishing three new specialist menopause clinics, based in Galway, Cork and Limerick, at a cost of €0.58 million.

A further €0.25 million will be allocated to Sexual Assault Treatment Units.

The remainder of the women’s health allocation will invest in existing and new initiatives, including €1.34 million towards the commencement of a structured and resourced service in the Dublin and Cork regions for perinatal genetics services and €0.54m towards the establishment of an obstetric event support team expert team to support services and sites that report pre-defined severe maternity incidents.

Budget 2022 also commits €0.7 million as a first-time investment in tackling period poverty.

A further €16m in other measures to support women's health is embedded within other new measures for 2022 within the Health Vote in areas such as cancer, mental health and social inclusion budgets, bringing the overall investment in women's health to €47m in additional funding provided for 2022.

This additional investment demonstrates our continued commitment to women’s health.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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115. To ask the Minister for Health the degree to which he expects to advance the Sláintecare project in the next 12 months; his plans for dealing with the various hospital waiting lists in the same period and at the same time; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50776/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Sláintecare Implementation Strategy & Action Plan 2021-2023 was approved by the Government in May 2021. The six-month progress report, published last month, indicated that of the 112 deliverables, 109 were on track or progressing with minor challenges. I would expect that progress would continue at pace in 2022, supported by the allocation in Budget 2022 of €21 billion, the biggest ever investment in Ireland’s Health and Social Care Services to deliver Sláintecare.

The Strategy & Action Plan committed to developing a Multi-Annual Waiting Lists Reduction Plan. My Department, the HSE and the NTPF is working on that Plan to address waiting lists and bring them in line with Sláintecare targets over the coming years. This process will be overseen by a Ministerial Taskforce chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and including representatives from the HSE and National Treatment Purchase Fund.  

Furthermore, I published an Acute Waiting List Action Plan on the 7th of October. This plan, to run to December 2021, was drawn up in consultation between my Department, the Health Service Executive and the National Treatment Purchase Fund and will address the increase in acute hospital waiting lists arising from the impact of Covid-19 and the cyberattack.

For 2022 an additional allocation of €250 million, comprised of €200 million to the HSE and €50 million to the National Treatment Purchase Fund has been provided in respect of work to reduce hospital and community waiting lists. The €250 million will be used to fund additional activity in both the public and private sectors. The €50 million additional funding provided to the NTPF brings its total allocation for 2022 to €150 million, and as a consequence there will be a budget of €350 million available to support vital initiatives to improve access to acute hospitals and community health services.