Ken O'Flynn

284. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the current staffing levels assigned to Barnahus West, Barnahus South, and Barnahus East; the number of unfilled posts; the expected timeline for full staffing at each site; and the projected caseload capacity when fully operational. [66446/25]

285. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the compliance timelines, milestones, and performance metrics agreed with Tusla following the HIQA inspections in February 2024 and April 2025; and the mechanism used by her Department to monitor delivery against these commitments at area, regional, and national level. [66447/25]

286. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the interim supports, therapeutic or otherwise, that are provided to children assessed as being at risk of sexual abuse while awaiting allocation to a Tusla worker; and the protocols in place to ensure no child remains without support during extended waiting periods. [66448/25]

287. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality to provide an assessment of the adequacy of current training and continuous professional development provided to Tusla front-line staff in identifying and responding to risks of child sexual abuse, and if further reforms are planned. [66449/25]

290. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has reviewed the impact of its own ECCE guidance for late-December births, specifically where parents were advised they could defer entry in the child’s best interests; and if she will publish any internal analysis on cases where children were subsequently locked out of their second ECCE year as a result. [66575/25]

291. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department will establish an exceptional review mechanism for children who miss the ECCE upper age limit by fewer than seven days due to guidance provided by the Department or by ECCE operators; and if she has assessed the financial and developmental impact of this situation on families. [66576/25]

302. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason the HSE is unable to provide national-level expenditure data for chronic pain management services, as indicated in recent correspondence to this Deputy; the actions her Department is taking to ensure full financial reporting and service oversight for chronic pain services across all hospital groups and community healthcare organisations; the date on which her Department last sought national data from the HSE on expenditure and activity relating to chronic pain; and the timeline for the introduction of comprehensive national reporting, including for community based non-pharmacological interventions such as physiotherapy, CBT, mindfulness supports and graded exercise programmes. [66509/25]

303. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current national waiting times for access to chronic pain management services at primary, secondary and tertiary levels; the number of patients currently waiting for chronic pain assessment and treatment in each hospital group; the longest wait recorded; and the reforms being implemented by her Department to reduce delays in line with the Sláintecare commitment to timely access. [66510/25]

304. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent chronic pain specialists currently employed across the HSE, broken down by hospital group; the number of vacancies; the number of unfilled consultant posts in pain medicine; and the steps being taken by her Department to address workforce shortages in chronic pain services in 2025 and 2026. [66511/25]

305. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of community-based chronic pain management programmes currently operating nationwide; the budget allocation for each; the extent to which the iPainCentre pilot evaluation has informed national service planning; and whether her Department will commit to a national roll-out of community-based pain clinics as part of the 2026 National Service Plan. [66512/25]

307. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to set out the number of occupational therapy posts currently unfilled in each area of Cork, broken down by network, grade and whole-time equivalent, and to provide the date by which her Department expects all posts to be filled. [66519/25]

308. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to confirm the formal targets held by her Department for reducing occupational therapy waiting times in Cork, and to specify the date by which these wait times will fall below 12 weeks in each network. [66520/25]

309. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the funding allocated for occupational therapy services in Cork in 2026, including new development posts, replacement posts, and resources for waiting list initiatives. [66521/25]

310. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of occupational therapists who left HSE posts in Cork in 2024 and 2025, and to give the reasons recorded for exit. [66522/25]

311. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to confirm whether her Department has carried out any assessment of unmet need for occupational therapy in Cork, including expected demand growth for 2026 and 2027; and to publish the findings. [66523/25]

312. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average waiting time for a speech and language therapy appointment in Cork by network, and to set out plans to reduce waiting lists. [66524/25]

313. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average waiting time for a physiotherapy appointment in Cork by network, and the expected date by which waiting times will fall below 12 weeks. [66525/25]

314. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of vacant community health posts across Cork, by discipline, by grade and whole-time equivalent; and to provide recruitment timelines for each. [66526/25]

315. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to set out the current vacancy rate within the South South-West Hospital Group and Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, by hospital, service, grade and specialty; and to provide the total number of approved posts versus filled posts as of the most recent reporting period. [66533/25]

316. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2004 of 4 November 2025, the number of staff recruited in 2024 and to date in 2025 within the South South-West Hospital Group and Cork Kerry Community Healthcare under each of the recruitment and retention initiatives referenced, including graduate retention, nurse and healthcare assistant campaigns, Health and Social Care Professional retention, agency conversions to permanent contracts, and targeted recruitment campaigns, and to provide the outcomes for each initiative. [66534/25]

317. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to detail the total number of agency staff currently working within the South South-West Hospital Group and Cork Kerry Community Healthcare; the number offered conversion to permanent HSE contracts in 2024 and 2025; the number who accepted; and the number of posts that remain dependent on agency staff. [66535/25]

318. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the number of apprentices currently in place in Social Work and Social Care Work within the South South-West region; the planned intake for 2025 and 2026; any planned expansion of apprenticeships into additional roles; and the projected contribution of these apprenticeship schemes to reducing vacancies in the region. [66536/25]

319. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide a comparative analysis of staffing levels per 100,000 population across all HSE regions, including the South-West, for medical, nursing, midwifery, Health and Social Care Professionals, and administrative grades, and to confirm whether staffing levels in the South-West are in line with, above, or below national averages. [66537/25]

325. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current national policy governing the provision of non-medically indicated circumcision procedures in public hospitals, including whether such procedures are authorised, the clinical or administrative basis for any such authorisation, and the responsible decision-making structure within her Department. [66560/25]

326. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to confirm whether any HSE hospital or hospital group provides circumcision procedures where no medical indication exists, and to provide a breakdown by hospital of the number of such procedures carried out in each of the past five years. [66561/25]