Ken O'Flynn

256. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Youth to confirm whether students with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia will be eligible for the additional time accommodation announced for the 2026 State examinations, regardless of whether they currently receive a direct intervention accommodation under the RACE scheme; to clarify the categories of "specific needs" covered by the interim scheme; to state the evidential requirements that will apply for eligibility; to confirm when the full eligibility criteria and application process, including deadlines and any appeals mechanism, will be formally published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9074/26]

274. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department receives regular reports, briefings, or statistical updates from the Residential Tenancies Board in respect of notices of termination or eviction notices issued by private landlords; if so, the frequency of such reports; the format in which they are provided; whether they include quarterly or annual aggregate data; and the manner in which this information is used by his Department in the formulation, review, or evaluation of housing and rental sector policy. [8856/26]

275. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether his Department plans to compile, hold, or publish a centralised official dataset on notices of termination or eviction notices issued in the private rental sector, drawing on data held by the Residential Tenancies Board; if not, the reasons such data is not centrally maintained by his Department despite its policy responsibility for housing; his views on the way in which transparency and oversight in this area are to be ensured; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8857/26]

276. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether he considers the number of notices of termination or eviction notices issued in the private rental sector to be a core housing performance and policy indicator; if so, the way in which this indicator is monitored and assessed by his Department; if not, the reasons for his position; and his views on the role such data plays in assessing pressures within the rental sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8858/26]

286. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether any rental accommodation scheme tenant whose tenancy ends through no fault of their own is guaranteed an offer of alternative accommodation or housing support sufficient to prevent homelessness; to set out the specific statutory, policy, or administrative basis for such a guarantee, if it exists; to clarify the criteria by which a household is deemed "vulnerable" or an "emergency case" for the purposes of tenant-in-situ acquisitions; to provide the number of RAS tenancies where tenant-in-situ was pursued or completed in each local authority, in each of the past three years; to state the average timeframe between receipt of a valid notice of termination and the provision of alternative accommodation or support; and to indicate when confirmed 2026 funding allocations for homelessness prevention and second-hand acquisitions will be communicated to local authorities. [9075/26]

374. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when the decision was taken that emergency ambulance response times exceeding 60 minutes would not be routinely recorded, collated, or reported as part of the State’s ambulance performance framework; the person that authorised this decision; and whether she is satisfied that the absence of such data is compatible with effective patient safety oversight. [8860/26]

375. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that the current National Ambulance Service KPI framework does not measure or report life threatening emergency response delays exceeding 60 minutes; and if so, whether she will direct that this data be formally collected, audited, and published on a routine basis. [8861/26]

376. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any Department of Health policy, guidance, or risk management framework addresses patient harm arising from prolonged ambulance response times beyond existing KPI thresholds; and if not, whether she intends to commission such a framework. [8862/26]

377. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken, commissioned, or received any clinical risk assessment, patient safety review, or adverse incident analysis relating to emergency ambulance response times exceeding 60 minutes during the period 2023 to date; and if not, the reasons for same. [8863/26]

378. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that failure to measure extreme emergency response delays limits the State’s ability to identify, assess, and mitigate patient safety risks; and whether she will instruct the Health Service Executive to amend its performance governance arrangements accordingly. [8864/26]

380. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the oversight mechanisms which exist within her Department to ensure that National Ambulance Service performance metrics adequately capture risks associated with prolonged emergency response times; and whether those mechanisms have been reviewed in light of rising demand and persistent emergency department congestion. [8876/26]

386. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has adopted, endorsed, or relied upon any national policy, workforce planning framework, or service specification for chronic pain services which sets out recommended consultant whole-time equivalent capacity per head of population; and if so, to provide the title, date, and issuing authority of each such document. [8886/26]

387. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted, commissioned, or received any population-needs assessment of chronic pain service consultant capacity since 2019, including any modelling of required consultant whole-time equivalents by Community Healthcare Organisation or Hospital Group; and if so, to provide the date, scope, and main findings. [8887/26]

388. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance arrangements by which her Department assures itself that consultant capacity in chronic pain services is adequate to meet population need, including the key performance indicators, reporting cadence, and the senior accountable officer within her Department; and if she will provide the most recent available reporting outputs. [8888/26]

389. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether chronic pain services are included within any current Consultant Workforce Plan, National Service Plan deliverable, or waiting list action plan overseen by her Department; and if so, to set out the targets, funding allocations, and timelines applicable in 2026 and 2027. [8889/26]

390. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department requires the HSE to report, on a routine basis, the number of chronic pain service consultants in post, approved posts, vacancies, and waiting times by site; and if so, to state the reporting frequency and the most recent date on which such a report was received by her Department. [8890/26]

391. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any direction, circular, or guidance to the HSE since 2023 in relation to capacity expansion, recruitment, or service configuration for chronic pain services; and if so, to provide the date, subject, and a copy of each document. [8891/26]

392. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department will direct the HSE and PCRS to implement a temporary national reimbursement protocol, for the duration of the current salbutamol nebule shortages, in order that clinically equivalent substitutes are reimbursed without individual case by case applications under discretionary hardship arrangements; and if so, when this protocol will commence. [8892/26]

393. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has received from the HSE or PCRS an estimate of the number of medical card holders who have required alternative reimbursed products due to salbutamol nebule shortages since 1 January 2025; and if so, to provide the estimate and the methodology used. [8893/26]

394. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of discretionary hardship arrangements applications received by the PCRS for inhaled nebule presentations of short-acting bronchodilators, including salbutamol substitutes, in each month since 1 January 2025; the number approved; the number refused; and the median processing time in each month. [8894/26]

395. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department will require the HSE to publish clear public guidance for patients and pharmacies during shortages of reimbursable medicines, including the exact reimbursement pathway and documentation required; and if so, when this guidance will be published and where it will be accessible. [8895/26]

396. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the risk to patient safety arising from requiring medical card holders to obtain GP reassessment or alternative prescribing solely due to a supply disruption of a reimbursable medicine; and if so, to provide the date and conclusions of that assessment. [8896/26]

397. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has asked the HSE to provide a written instruction to community pharmacies confirming that eligible medical card holders should not be asked to pay privately for clinically required alternatives, where reimbursement is available through hardship or other mechanisms; if so, the date that instruction issued; and the mechanism for ensuring consistent implementation. [8897/26]

398. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department will establish an automatic “shortage substitution” reimbursement mechanism within the PCRS for defined categories of essential medicines, where the HPRA has confirmed a shortage and the HSE has identified clinically equivalent substitutes; if so, the timeline for delivery; and whether primary legislation is required. [8898/26]

399. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department maintains a central register of CHI-related reviews and reports, including publication decisions and follow-up actions; when the register was established; who is accountable for it; and whether she will publish it. [8901/26]