Ken O'Flynn

731. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE maintains any centralised audit mechanism to assess whether local decisions regarding agency staffing comply with national policy restrictions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36306/26]

732. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any written national framework exists governing exemptions, approvals, or derogations from agency staffing restrictions within the HSE; and to provide copies of any such framework [36307/26]

733. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of occasions on which Health Regions exceeded their agency spend reduction targets since the introduction of the current controls, broken down by region and quarter. [36308/26]

734. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has assessed the governance risks associated with the absence of a central reporting system for monitoring compliance with agency staffing controls; and if so, to provide details of that assessment. [36309/26]

735. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal audit, external audit, or review has been conducted regarding compliance with agency staffing restrictions since their introduction; and if so, to provide details and findings. [36310/26]

736. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether regional variations exist in the implementation or enforcement of agency staffing restrictions across the six Health Regions; and if so, the measures in place to ensure national consistency. [36311/26]

737. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any patient safety incidents, service disruptions, or staffing escalations have been linked to agency staffing restrictions since their introduction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36312/26]

738. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total agency spend for each Health Region for 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, together with the reduction targets assigned to each region during those periods.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36313/26]

739. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE records the number of unfilled posts or vacancies arising from restrictions on agency staff recruitment; and if so, to provide the figures by region and staff grade. [36314/26]

740. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national KPI framework exists to measure the operational effectiveness of agency staffing restrictions beyond expenditure reduction targets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36315/26]

741. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department of Health has carried out any national analysis of the relationship between agency staffing expenditure and reductions in hospital waiting lists since the commencement of the multi-annual waiting list action plan approach in 2021; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36316/26]

742. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total expenditure on agency staffing associated with scheduled care, elective activity and Waiting List Action Plan delivery for each year from 2021 to 2026, broken down by hospital group and Health Region. [36317/26]

743. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any value-for-money assessment has been undertaken comparing agency staffing costs with equivalent permanent staffing costs in the delivery of waiting-list reduction initiatives; and if so, to provide details. [36318/26]

744. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any specialty-specific analysis has been undertaken regarding reliance on agency staffing for Waiting List Action Plan delivery, including in orthopaedics, ophthalmology, ENT and gastroenterology. [36319/26]

745. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department or HSE has identified any risks to the sustainability of waiting-list reductions arising from long-term dependence on agency staffing. [36320/26]

746. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national benchmark or target exists regarding acceptable levels of agency staffing expenditure linked to elective and scheduled care services. [36321/26]

747. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE tracks waiting-list reductions achieved through agency-supported clinics, theatres, diagnostics or additional sessions; and if so, the metrics used. [36322/26]

748. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any regional variation analysis has been carried out regarding dependency on agency staffing to support Waiting List Action Plan targets. [36323/26]

749. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department has examined the long-term fiscal implications of sustained agency staffing usage within scheduled care services. [36324/26]

750. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any independent audit or review has been undertaken regarding the effectiveness of agency staffing expenditure in supporting Waiting List Action Plan delivery since 2021. [36325/26]

751. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of ambulance responses in each year since 2020 where the response time exceeded (i) 60 minutes, (ii) 90 minutes and (iii) 120 minutes, broken down by HSE region and call category. [36378/26]

752. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any patient safety review, incident analysis or mortality review process is automatically triggered following ambulance response delays exceeding specified thresholds; and if so, to provide details. [36379/26]

753. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the National Ambulance Service maintains any internal reporting threshold for “extreme delays”; and, if so, the criteria applied. [36380/26]

754. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether ambulance response-time delays are linked to HIQA-reportable patient safety incidents or serious reportable events. [36381/26]

755. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department receives routine reporting on ambulance delays exceeding defined thresholds; and, if not, whether the absence of such reporting has been identified as a governance risk. [36382/26]