Ken O'Flynn

626. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to the reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 2312 to 2316 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department holds the HSE tender evaluation summary, cost-effectiveness analysis, and decision documentation underpinning the decision not to procure enhanced influenza vaccines for the 2025 to 2026 season; and if so, to state whether she will publish the non-commercially sensitive elements of that documentation in the interests of transparency. [13703/26]

630. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the full list of national workforce Key Performance Indicators currently agreed between her Department and the HSE for 2025; the date on which each KPI was formally approved; the reporting frequency for each; and whether each KPI is published, in tabular form [13740/26]

631. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the average time taken to fill funded vacant posts, from approval to commencement in post, is monitored at national level; if so, the most recent national figure; and if not, whether she will introduce a national time-to-fill benchmark as a matter of policy [13741/26]

632. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide the number of funded vacant whole-time equivalent posts in each of the six health regions as of the most recent reporting date; and the corresponding vacancy rate expressed as a percentage of funded workforce [13742/26]

633. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to state the total expenditure on agency staffing in each Health Region in 2024 and 2025 to date; and whether her Department has undertaken any analysis correlating agency expenditure with funded vacancy levels [13743/26]

634. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the recruitment control measures introduced in 2023 and 2024; the policy rationale for those measures; and whether any impact assessment was undertaken regarding their effect on vacancy levels, service delivery, or patient waiting times [13744/26]

636. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current number of medicines listed as being in short supply on the national medicines shortage list maintained by the Health Products Regulatory Authority; the number of these classified as critical or without a clinically equivalent alternative; the average duration of shortages recorded in each of the past three years; and the steps being taken at Departmental level to reduce recurrence and duration of shortages [13762/26]

637. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department maintains a formal medicines supply resilience strategy addressing strategic stockholding, diversification of supply chains, early warning mechanisms and substitution protocols; if so, when it was last reviewed; and if she will outline the key policy measures currently in force [13763/26]

638. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department receives routine structured reports from the Health Products Regulatory Authority and the HSE regarding medicines shortages affecting chronic disease management, including respiratory conditions; the frequency and format of such reports; and how this information informs policy and budgetary planning [13764/26]

639. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether automatic reimbursement mechanisms are in place under community drug schemes to ensure that where a reimbursable medicine is unavailable due to shortage, clinically appropriate substitute medicines are reimbursed without additional administrative burden on patients or prescribers; and if not, whether she will introduce such a mechanism [13765/26]

640. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken any assessment of the patient safety, treatment interruption or cost implications arising from medicines shortages in the past three years; if so, the findings of that assessment; and if not, whether such an assessment will now be commissioned [13766/26]

641. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued formal policy guidance to the Health Service Executive or to the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics regarding the appropriate time horizon to be applied in health technology assessments where medicines are intended to reduce the long-term incidence of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13785/26]

642. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department requires that lifetime modelling of avoided downstream healthcare costs, including reduced hospital admissions, surgical interventions, dialysis, and long-term disability supports, be incorporated as standard practice in value-for-money assessments conducted under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13786/26]

643. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken any review of the balance between short-term budget impact considerations and long-term prevention-based savings in medicines reimbursement decisions under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013; and whether any policy changes are under consideration in this regard. [13787/26]

644. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the extent to which population-level disease prevention benefits are reflected in cost-effectiveness evaluations carried out by or on behalf of the Health Service Executive; and whether she intends to issue policy guidance clarifying how such prevention benefits are to be weighted in future reimbursement decisions. [13788/26]

645. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal Departmental policy documents, circulars, or guidance notes exist concerning the incorporation of long-term prevention outcomes in medicines reimbursement decisions under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013; and whether she will arrange for any such documents to be published. [13789/26]

646. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department receives annual or quarterly statistical reports from the Health Service Executive on discretionary medical card approvals and refusals granted under the General Medical Services scheme in respect of persons aged over 70; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13798/26]

647. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the data provided to her Department by the Health Service Executive on discretionary medical card decisions is disaggregated by age cohort, geographic region, and outcome; and if she will outline the categories of data routinely received. [13799/26]

648. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of discretionary medical cards granted to persons aged over 70 following a means assessment in each of the years 2020 to 2025, inclusive; and the number of applications in that age cohort refused following discretionary assessment in each year. [13800/26]

649. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted any review, audit, or policy assessment since 2020 of trends in the exercise of discretion in medical card eligibility decisions affecting persons aged over 70; and if she will provide details of any such review. [13801/26]

650. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether national guidance or policy directives are issued by her Department to ensure consistency in the exercise of discretion under the medical card scheme; and if she will outline the governance arrangements in place to monitor consistency and equity of outcomes for older persons. [13802/26]

651. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the financial impact on older persons who are refused discretionary medical card eligibility but granted a GP Visit Card; and if she will outline any policy considerations arising from such assessment. [13803/26]

653. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total number of whole-time equivalent GPs practising in the State in each year from 2020 to 2025; the estimated population per GP ratio in each year; and whether demographic change, including inward migration, is factored into primary care workforce planning models. [13869/26]

654. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total amount of funding allocated in 2025 and to date in 2026 to commission external private providers under Service Level Agreements or Grant Aid Agreements for the provision of primary care level child and adolescent psychological interventions in HSE South West; and the breakdown of that funding by provider and agreement type. [13870/26]

655. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of children and adolescents referred to external commissioned providers under Service Level Agreements or Grant Aid Agreements in HSE South West in 2025 and to date in 2026; the average cost per intervention episode; and the average number of sessions delivered per child. [13871/26]