Ken O'Flynn

1003. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has set monthly or annual targets for reducing agency staffing expenditure in 2025 and 2026; the target and actual expenditure for each month; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32542/26]

1004. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average hourly cost to the HSE of agency staff compared with directly employed staff across the main staff categories; the estimated additional cost arising from agency staffing in 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32543/26]

1005. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department or HSE has carried out any audit, review or evaluation of the July 2025 agency conversion framework; if so, to provide the findings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32544/26]

1008. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide a copy of any formal written policy, guideline or standard operating procedure governing eligibility decisions under the Treatment Abroad Scheme; and if none exists, to confirm this. [32561/26]

1009. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health who holds ultimate decision-making authority for approving funding under the Treatment Abroad Scheme, including whether this rests with individual consultants, HSE management, or a defined approval panel. [32562/26]

1010. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national clinical criteria, thresholds, or evidentiary standards are formally defined for determining what constitutes a “proven treatment” under the Treatment Abroad Scheme. [32563/26]

1011. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department or HSE has conducted any audit or review of approval decisions under the Treatment Abroad Scheme since 2020; if so, to provide dates and findings. [32564/26]

1012. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether decisions under the treatment abroad scheme are subject to any centralised review, appeal mechanism, or consistency check across cases. [32565/26]

1013. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any cost ceilings, budget controls, or value-for-money assessments are applied to approvals under the Treatment Abroad Scheme. [32566/26]

1014. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has considered developing a national policy definition or classification framework for surgical procedures by clinical priority, medical necessity, quality-of-life impact, and elective status; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32577/26]

1015. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts the HSE position that there is currently no agreed or standardised definition of a procedure that is not medically necessary; whether her Department intends to address this policy gap; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32578/26]

1016. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department has issued any guidance to the HSE on how theatre capacity should be prioritised where demand exceeds available capacity; and if she will publish any such guidance. [32579/26]

1017. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether public hospitals are required to record the clinical priority category attached to surgical procedures when theatre time is allocated; and if not, whether her Department intends to require such data collection.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32580/26]

1018. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department has assessed the feasibility of introducing structured data fields within hospital systems to record the clinical rationale and priority category for surgical procedures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32581/26]

1019. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department receives any regular reporting from the HSE on the allocation of theatre capacity by specialty, urgency category, elective status, waiting-list category, or clinical priority; and if she will provide details of the reporting received [32582/26]

1020. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she is satisfied that current hospital data systems allow adequate national oversight of how scarce theatre capacity is allocated across the public health system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32583/26]

1021. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any work is underway to create a nationally consistent methodology for reporting theatre utilisation, cancellations, prioritisation, and allocation across public hospitals; and if she will provide a timeline for such work. [32584/26]

1022. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the absence of a standardised definition of medical necessity in surgical care creates a governance risk in relation to waiting lists, theatre access, and resource allocation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32585/26]

1023. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she will request the HSE to prepare options for improved reporting on theatre-capacity allocation, including reporting by specialty, urgency, elective status, and clinical priority; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32586/26]

1024. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the title, scope, date, reporting line, and final report reference of the 2022 Comptroller and Auditor General audit of the Treatment Abroad Scheme referred to by the HSE in correspondence to this Deputy; whether the report is publicly available; and if not, whether she will arrange for a copy to be provided. [32588/26]

1025. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department received, reviewed, or was briefed on the 2022 Comptroller and Auditor General audit of the Treatment Abroad Scheme; the date on which any such briefing or report was received; and what follow-up actions were required by the Department. [32589/26]

1026. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any recommendations, observations, management letters, internal control issues, expenditure concerns, or governance issues arose from the 2022 Comptroller and Auditor General audit of the Treatment Abroad Scheme; and if she will provide a summary of each such matter and the action taken. [32590/26]

1027. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal audit, external audit, Comptroller and Auditor General review, value-for-money review, or expenditure-control review of the Treatment Abroad Scheme has been completed since the 2022 audit; and if so, the date, scope, findings, and recommendations of each review. [32591/26]

1028. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what formal audit schedule, risk assessment, or expenditure-control framework applies to the Treatment Abroad Scheme; who is responsible within her Department for oversight of that framework; and whether the Scheme is subject to periodic value-for-money review. [32592/26]

1029. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to set out in detail the accounting methodology applied by the HSE under the Treatment Abroad Scheme for attributing expenditure to a given financial year, including whether expenditure is recorded on a cash, accrual, or episode-of-care basis; the point at which expenditure is recognised in the accounts; and the mechanisms in place to link each payment to an individual patient approval and referral year. [32598/26]