The Deputy is aware that an external management team, EMT, was put in place in January precisely to try to supervise, assess and make some of the improvements that are needed. There have been some infrastructural works and changes, some of which should have been done before the external management team arrived, which have now been completed, for example a four-bay maternity day assessment unit, MDAU, and a dedicated …
TDs / Jennifer Carroll MacNeill
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill
Minister for Health
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
182,871
words spoken in the chamber
179,569 as a minister, 3,302 as a TD
355
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 710 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 19 |
| March 2025 | 40 |
| April 2025 | 20 |
| May 2025 | 52 |
| June 2025 | 52 |
| July 2025 | 44 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 7 |
| October 2025 | 59 |
| November 2025 | 56 |
| December 2025 | 11 |
| January 2026 | 57 |
| February 2026 | 9 |
| March 2026 | 51 |
| April 2026 | 45 |
| May 2026 | 11 |
| June 2026 | 14 |
| July 2026 | 60 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 12 |
| October 2026 | 91 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 567 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Dún Laoghaire 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Health 23 January 2025 to now
I thank the Deputy. There is an audit going on into equity of access on waiting list management. I expect to have that audit at the end of November. I will have to wait until then to confirm any figures. At the end of August this year, there were 135 patients on the CHI spinal active waiting list, compared with 150 in August 2024. That is a reduction of 10%. Outpatient lists are also down, with a 45% reduction in the…
No.
I do not believe so. There is a separate portion of money to do that, so I do not believe that. I will check, but it is certainly not my understanding. I remain concerned about the number of children referred, or not referred, for international surgery. As I said earlier it is a source of deep frustration to me that those services are not being utilised. Part of the audit is an analysis of equity of access on the wai…
I updated the House earlier. They should be fully in sympathy. I also recognise that whoever is leading the inquiry will need to clarify the terms and make a final decision on what they need to be. I anticipate a comprehensive and transparent inquiry where the terms of reference are developed in partnership. The Government is one piece. The advocates are another piece, as is the person leading from both a legal and a…
I thank the Deputy for allowing me to update the house on the new primary care centre in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny. The need for that primary care centre was identified as part of the HSE’s overall primary care centre development programme. It is to be delivered via the HSE operational lease mechanism. As the Deputy is aware, the HSE has advertised for and identified a preferred developer for this new centre. …
Absolutely. When it is operational, it is expected that it will have GP, dental, community nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, dietetics and psychology services, as well as diabetic breathanyl screening and outreach for chronic disease help, all of which are so very important. The Deputy is right when he says that recruitment is a challenge. We have vacancies in the system, notw…
I thank the Deputy. Clearly, we are trying to have a network serving counties Kilkenny and Carlow, and we need the staff. The vacancies are there. We are desperately trying to recruit and make sure the complete suite of services is there for the people of the county.
As the Deputy is aware, the Sláintecare target is 12 weeks for an inpatient procedure. That is how we measure performance across the entire health sector. Some 39% of the children on the active spinal waiting list in CHI were within Sláintecare targets at the end of August 2025, which is an improvement on 28% at the end of August 2024. Additionally, only 7% were waiting over 12 months, which is compared to 24% at the…
Yes, that is my intention. It is a partnership approach. At the end of the day, some terms of reference are going to have to be settled and it is absolutely our intention to do that in a partnership approach. The person leading it, of course, must have some knowledge of how it is going to be done and some hand in how best it can be delivered as well. That is an important perspective. It should not be coming from me t…
I did not make any comment on that. I said there was an audit-----
-----so please do not put words with me because I did not say anything in relation to that.
Yes, I would also like to do that, but we have to recognise that there are some children for whom it is suitable and who have had good outcomes.
I answered the Deputy's question in relation to medical devices. I said I was referring a concern that I had to HIQA.
In relation to the clinical lead, I said that I have commissioned an audit, which is a really important process. I do not wish to step across that. I am ve…
I thank the Deputy. I know he has been a very strong advocate for the Gorey primary care centre, the need for which has been well identified. A tender process has been undertaken. As he is aware, a preferred provider had been selected, with a letter of intent issued in 2019. Unfortunately, that selected preferred provider encountered difficulties regarding economic viability resulting in the collapse of the process i…
My immediate priority following the publication of the Thomas audit on 23 May 2025 was to ensure there was clinical follow-up and care for patients who had undergone pelvic osteotomy surgery. This is a once-off review to assess any complications that may exist and to determine the current clinical state. After this, patients then enter the recommended normal follow-up process. These multidisciplinary team, MDT, clini…
We are imminently close to appointing a lead. I would have preferred to be in a position to do that today, but I am not. It is imminent, essentially.
I appreciate what the Deputy said about January. It is for this group of experts to determine their process and not for me to step across that. I expect and hope it would be done within six months but, again, if independent clinical experts tell me differently, then I …
Yes. We are having the third meeting today. I will meet the hip dysplasia advocacy group on Tuesday, 14 October in Leinster House. I will also make clear to all parents who may not wish to be part of an advocacy group, or be connected to that, I am here to hear from them at any stage as well.
It is also important to update the House that a meeting was held with the DDH advocacy group and the HSE on 24 September rega…
I thank the Deputy. While we have already invested in the University Hospital Galway campuses, there are significant proposals, as the Deputy is aware, for further investments there. The integrated development control plan, DCP, has been informed by population health needs and clinical demand. That has been developed and now provides a clear masterplan for the sequencing and delivery of new facilities. My Department …
It is a master plan that is developed sequentially. The Deputy can see the complexity of the work that is going on there with the diversion of underground services. It is incredibly complex work. Deputy Connolly knows the site a great deal better than I do, of course, and it is an old site that requires considerable development work. The last thing I will do is place a timeline on it. I just want to see things progre…
That seems perfectly reasonable and that is what I would do too. As the Deputy has saved me the background, I will save her reading out all of the trolley figures. I will highlight that unless Galway hospital, and the west and north west generally, start to routinely roster consultants on the public-only consultant contract at the weekends, they will continue to have the trolley difficulties they have had. It is very…
I agree with the Deputy. While in 2024, nearly 1.4 million people accessed therapy services across disciplines including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, psychology, podiatry and all of that, in many cases waiting times are wholly unacceptable. To tackle this, the Department of Health is working closely with the HSE on a targeted, programmatic approach to managing therapy w…
I thank the Deputy. He might allow me to reflect on that and discuss it with my officials further.
What we are trying to do to build capacity in primary care therapy services is this three-part national programme, which I will lay out for the Deputy. Workstream 1 is an analysis of regional productivity to optimise current therapy care to maximise capacity within existing resources. Frankly, there is variation betwee…
I thank both Deputies. There are an additional 320 new training places via the CAO in the different colleges. That is a significant expansion. I will speak to my good colleague the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless. My responsibility is, of course, in respect of the clinical training places that must go alongside the academic piece. We moved from a sort of apprenticeship model of nursing to an…
I propose to take Questions Nos. 87, 97 and 101 together.
I thank the Deputy. Endometriosis has been under-considered by all of us, including the Department of Health and the HSE, but a significant body of work has happened in recent months. I am pleased to say that the national framework for endometriosis is now ready for publication. I am conscious that the budget is next week and we are trying to find the appropr…
I thank the Deputy. Our thoughts are with Aisling as she goes through her treatment programme.
On endometriosis, I want to acknowledge the many different groups that have engaged with endometriosis sufferers and the importance of all of that advocacy work. It was a step change to invite women to come into the Department when many of them feel that the Irish health system has so badly let them down. It was difficult …