Ken O'Flynn

878. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of beds closed for infection-control, staffing or maintenance reasons in each of the past six months, by hospital; and the impact of these closures on trolley numbers reported to the HSE. [69153/25]

879. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has reviewed the preparedness of each regional health area for winter pressures; setting out the actions approved, the timelines for delivery, and the performance indicators being used to measure readiness. [69154/25]

903. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if changes have been made since 2020 to the eligibility criteria or decision-making principles applied by the HSE when assessing discretionary medical card applications for people aged over 70 who exceed the income threshold but face high medical or living costs; and to publish any such changes. [69346/25]

904. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the circulars, directives, guidance notes, or interpretative instructions issued by her Department or the HSE since 2020, relating to the assessment of discretionary medical card applications for people aged over 70; and to make these documents available. [69347/25]

905. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of discretionary medical card applications received for people aged over 70, the number approved, the number refused, and the resulting approval rate from 2020 to 2025, by year; and whether the Department has reviewed these trends. [69348/25]

906. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has assessed the decline in discretionary medical cards issued to people aged over 70 against the documented annual growth in the over-70 population; and to provide the analysis carried out. [69349/25]

907. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if medical inflation and increased costs of essential healthcare for older persons including GP visits, medications, diagnostics and home-care supports are factored into her Department’s approach to discretionary medical card policy; and the way in which such cost pressures are considered. [69350/25]

908. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has carried out a review of governance, consistency, or fairness in discretionary medical card decision-making for people aged over 70 since 2020; if so to provide the findings; and if not, the reason no such review has taken place. [69351/25]

909. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has evaluated if current income thresholds, hardship definitions, or supporting-documentation requirements for discretionary medical cards remain appropriate for the needs of people aged over 70; and to set out any planned revisions. [69352/25]

910. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has examined the impact of rising household costs including energy, rent, utilities and food on older persons who are above the income threshold but have high unavoidable expenses; and whether this has informed discretionary medical card policy. [69353/25]

911. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the budgetary provision allocated for discretionary medical cards for older persons in each year from 2020 to 2025; and whether any changes in funding have influenced approval trends during this period. [69354/25]

912. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has undertaken equality or vulnerability impact assessment regarding the sharp reduction in discretionary medical card approvals for persons aged over 70 since 2020; and to provide any assessment conducted. [69355/25]

963. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance, referral and decision-making framework that operated when Irish children and young people were sent abroad for gender-identity assessment or treatment, including the basis on which the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service and University College Hospital London were used; and the policy reviews undertaken following the closure of Tavistock. [69427/25]

964. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of children and young people referred abroad for gender-identity assessment or treatment in each year since 2009, including the number referred; the number seen; age at referral and sex at birth; and if her Department holds any clinical outcomes or follow-up information arising from these referrals. [69428/25]

965. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the clinical guidelines, national policy instructions or formal agreements that applied to the use of puberty-suppressing medication for minors assessed overseas; and to specify whether any safeguarding, clinical-risk or budgetary assessments were carried out before these treatments were facilitated under the treatment abroad scheme. [69429/25]

966. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken a detailed assessment of the implications of the Cass Review for Irish policy on gender-related healthcare for minors; and the resulting changes to policy, clinical standards or risk-mitigation measures. [69430/25]

967. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted any audits or reviews relating to historical referral practices, clinical oversight, training pathways or governance arrangements in gender-identity services for minors; and the scope and findings of any such work along with the current safeguards that apply to new referrals. [69431/25]

973. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reasons for the sustained decline in the number of new clients accessing HSE-funded crisis-pregnancy counselling services between 2019 and 2025; and the Department's assessment of whether this reflects reduced service availability, lower public awareness, barriers to access, or changes in referral pathways. [69470/25]

974. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide a full regional and service-level breakdown, for each year from 2019 to 2025, of the number of new clients accessing crisis-pregnancy counselling and post-abortion counselling through HSE-funded providers; and to confirm the datasets and reporting standards used by the HSE to compile these figures. [69471/25]

975. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance, staffing model, funding allocation, and implementation timeline for the planned reconfiguration of crisis-pregnancy counselling services under the National Sexual Health Strategy 2025-2035; and to specify how the Department will ensure that unplanned-pregnancy and post-abortion counselling capacity is maintained during and after the transition. [69472/25]

976. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the measures taken to ensure accuracy and consistency in the HSE's quarterly reporting of counselling activity, including the use of categories that combine new and existing clients, and if the Department intends to introduce standardised reporting to avoid double-counting in national statistics. [69473/25]

981. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to identify which body holds national waiting-list data for children and young people seeking gender-related assessment or treatment, in circumstances where the HSE’s treatment abroad scheme has stated that it does not hold or have access to waiting-list information; the oversight arrangements the Department has in place to ensure national visibility of demand and unmet need; and the steps being taken to address the absence of a centralised dataset. [69538/25]

982. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the Department’s governance framework for paediatric referrals for gender-related treatment abroad, including the criteria used by the Department to assess clinical safety, safeguarding, and public-expenditure implications, in circumstances where applications for gender-affirming surgery abroad are automatically approved once an MDT report and referral letter are submitted. [69539/25]

983. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the Department’s oversight of public expenditure on gender-related treatment abroad for children and young people since 2020, including pre-assessment costs, multidisciplinary-team costs, travel-related costs and surgical costs; the arrangements in place to monitor value for money; and whether any expenditure controls or budget ceilings apply. [69540/25]

984. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the national policy or clinical-governance framework which guides the assessment of children and young people for gender-related interventions, including referrals abroad; and to confirm if the Department plans to undertake a review of national governance standards in light of recent international findings in this area. [69541/25]