Ken O'Flynn

601. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any future recruitment specifications for consultant posts in child and adolescent gender-related services will be required to align strictly with the revised National Gender Service Model of Care; and the national clinical governance structure that will approve such specifications. [13649/26]

602. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the oversight role exercised by her Department in approving or reviewing national clinical models of care which inform consultant recruitment specifications; and whether the Minister retains ultimate policy responsibility for ensuring that such models align with international evidence and best practice. [13650/26]

603. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted a formal risk assessment of the requirement that dispensing pharmacies must contact the primary care reimbursement service on a case-by-case basis to secure reimbursement approval for clinically equivalent substitute medicines during a formally declared shortage; whether any patient-safety analysis has been undertaken regarding potential delays in access to time-sensitive respiratory medicines; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13652/26]

604. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether there is a formal departmental policy providing for automatic reimbursement of clinically equivalent substitute medicines once the Health Products Regulatory Authority has listed a reimbursable product as being in shortage; if not, whether she will outline the policy rationale for the absence of such an automatic trigger mechanism; and whether consideration is being given to introducing same. [13653/26]

605. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to set out the statutory, regulatory, or administrative basis under which Exempt Medicinal Products are supported under Discretionary Hardship Arrangements during medicine shortages; whether these arrangements are governed by published criteria; and whether her Department intends to place such arrangements on a formalised national footing. [13654/26]

606. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the administrative burden placed on community pharmacies in circumstances where substitute reimbursement must be individually queried with the Primary Care Reimbursement Service; whether any review has been undertaken of processing times, approval rates or rejected applications in such cases over the past three years; and if she will provide the findings of any such review. [13655/26]

607. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether national clinical governance guidance has been issued by her Department or by the HSE in respect of reimbursement decision-making during shortages of time-sensitive respiratory medicines, including salbutamol nebules; whether such guidance addresses continuity of care, risk mitigation, and equity of access; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13656/26]

608. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of occasions in the past three years on which medicines listed on the Community Drug Schemes Reimbursement List were formally declared in shortage by the Health Products Regulatory Authority; in how many such cases substitute reimbursement required discretionary approval; and whether her Department maintains a central register of such occurrences. [13657/26]

609. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted any value-for-money or cost-comparison analysis between maintaining automatic substitute reimbursement mechanisms during shortages and operating the current discretionary case-by-case approval model; and if she will provide details of any such analysis undertaken since 2020. [13658/26]

610. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any equity impact assessment has been conducted to determine whether patients without medical cards or without established drugs payment scheme eligibility face additional barriers in accessing substitute medicines during shortages; and whether she will outline any measures in place to prevent differential access arising from reimbursement mechanisms. [13659/26]

611. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has engaged with representative bodies for community pharmacists, respiratory clinicians, or patient advocacy groups in relation to reimbursement continuity during medicine shortages; whether any formal consultation process has been undertaken since 2020; and if she will provide details of the outcome of any such engagement. [13660/26]

612. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she will commit to publishing a formal contingency reimbursement protocol setting out clear, automatic procedures for substitute medicine reimbursement where a reimbursable product is listed in shortage by the Health Products Regulatory Authority; and if she will indicate a timeframe for the development and publication of such a protocol. [13661/26]

613. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2074 of 13 January 2026, to list all written directions, circulars, guidance notes, governance frameworks or performance requirements issued by her Department to the HSE since 2018 concerning the treatment abroad scheme, including prior authorisation governance, escalation rules for high-cost approvals, and the reporting of approvals and expenditure to the Department; and, if none, to state how her Department ensures formal oversight of high-cost overseas referrals funded from the Health Vote. [13690/26]

614. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2074 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department receives any routine dataset or report from the HSE on treatment abroad scheme approvals and expenditure, including the number of applications received, the number approved, the number refused, the average cost per approval and total spend by year since 2018; and if so, to specify the reporting frequency, the responsible unit in her Department and the date on which such reporting commenced. [13691/26]

615. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any written requirement to the HSE since 2018 to categorise treatment abroad scheme expenditure by procedure type for departmental governance and cost control purposes; and, if not, to state the reason her Department does not require procedure-level categorisation for Exchequer oversight. [13692/26]

616. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has approved any national governance, safeguarding, and clinical governance framework for gender identity services for children and young people, including required standards, audit arrangements, and lines of accountability; and if so, to provide the title, date of approval, and the name of the unit responsible for monitoring compliance. [13693/26]

617. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted or commissioned, since 2019, any risk assessment, safeguarding assurance review, or governance assessment of gender identity services for children and young people, including assessment of diagnostic governance, consent safeguards, data completeness, and clinical oversight; and if so, to provide the date, the commissioning body, and whether recommendations were issued to the HSE for implementation. [13694/26]

618. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has completed any formal assessment since 2018 of the WPATH Standards of Care for the purposes of alignment with Irish health governance frameworks, including appraisal methodology, conflicts-of-interest screening, and evidence grading; and if so, to provide the date and the governance route by which the assessment was approved. [13695/26]

619. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any written instruction to the HSE to establish a national dataset for gender identity services for minors, including referral volumes, diagnostic profiles, treatment pathways, and outcomes; and if so, to specify the minimum dataset fields required, the legal basis relied upon, and the target date for national coverage [13696/26]

620. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has approved a national KPI set for recruitment governance across services funded under the Health Vote, including vacancy definitions, clearance timelines, time-to-hire, and development post delivery; and if so, to list the KPIs, the definitions used, and the date of departmental approval. [13697/26]

621. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2162 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department requires the HSE to provide recruitment and vacancy data to the Department on a standardised national template with consistent definitions across all regions; and if so, to provide the date such standardisation was introduced and the compliance arrangements in place. [13698/26]

622. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2164 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department will require the HSE to report quarterly to the Department the estimated cost to the Health Vote of bed days lost associated with delayed transfers of care, including type E homelessness and housing support categories; and, if not, to state the reason cost reporting is not required for a clearly identified driver of hospital capacity loss. [13699/26]

623. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2164 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department has approved any standard national methodology for calculating bed-day cost for governance and planning purposes, including the cost basis used and whether it is applied consistently across hospital groups; and if so, to provide the methodology reference and the date it was approved. [13700/26]

624. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department requires maternity services to record and report, as a national patient safety governance measure, any instance where signs of life are observed following a termination of pregnancy, including whether any national data return is required from maternity hospitals to the Department or to a national programme; and if not, to state the policy basis for the absence of a mandatory national governance return. [13701/26]

625. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has commissioned or overseen since 2019 any national clinical audit, serious incident learning review, or patient safety governance review in relation to reporting and governance arrangements for cases where signs of life are observed following a termination of pregnancy; and if so, to provide the number of reviews, the dates, and whether findings were provided to her Department. [13702/26]