I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. A number of different things are happening. As the Deputy is aware, Limerick has already been the beneficiary of additional bed capacity and staffing. Another 96-bed unit will be completed shortly. There is also a surgical hub. The Deputy mentioned scheduled procedures being cancelled. Those procedures will be scheduled in the surgical hub and that will be followed by an ele…
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
The Taoiseach and I might go together. It is an excellent hospital that needs more investment. I am happy to speak to the Deputy about the capital plan for the coming year. I will be opening a new lung care research facility in the hospital shortly and I ask the Deputy to come along. It is an excellent hospital that is deserving of continued investment.
I thank the Deputy. I am more than happy to sit down with him about the provision for Kerry more generally in the capital plan. He is right to highlight the trolley situation. At 8 a.m. on Saturday, 1 February, for example, there were only four people on trolleys in University Hospital Kerry. By Tuesday morning, that number had risen to 18. There were 24 the following day and 28 thereafter. The number then fell to tw…
I am aware of the issue and am beginning to examine that. It is a pan-European problem so perhaps I can come back to the Deputy on it. I am very aware of it. On the cost of HRT, provision was made in the budget for HRT products but not for the dispensing fee. That is covered in parliamentary questions going back to October and November last year and that position has not changed. The Government set aside money to pay…
I thank Deputy Nolan for highlighting this important issue. It is correct to say we are struggling with having enough dentists, both on the public side and, more broadly, to meet the need, particularly the developmental checks that are so important. While I am not aware of the specific case in Offaly, I would be glad if the Deputy might forward me the information so that I can be better informed. I have met initially…
I thank the Deputy for the question. He is quite right to identify that there is a problem, particularly in Dublin. While there has been an increase in the numbers of nursing staff generally, we are struggling in the recruitment of public health nurses. Several measures have been taken by the HSE to try to remedy this, including an equivalence in terms of salary scales and other incentives to try to bring more public…
I thank Deputy Bacik. Like Deputy Bacik, the first thing I want to do is offer my condolences to the family of the lady. A three-hour wait is simply not acceptable. I would like to get more details of the specific case, if the Deputy does not mind.
The issue of trolleys and congestion in hospitals, particularly at weekends, is an absolute priority for me. I will be bringing a series of data points to Cabinet on this next week. There are two issues - I am happy to discuss them with all Deputies - namely those relating to underlying capacity and work practices. Even in the very short period that I have been the Minister for Health, I have seen considerable proble…
I thank the Deputy for her question. I will be bringing the second iteration of the waiting list action plan to Cabinet this week. The first iteration brought waiting times down from an average of 13 months to seven. We have further to go in order to reach our Sláintecare targets.
As I said to Deputy Bacik, there are two issues here. One is about moving people out of the general hospital system to surgical hubs, the…
I thank Deputies for coming and raising the different issues today. I congratulate Deputy Lawless on his election by the good people of Mayo. I was in Mayo yesterday. I pay particular tribute to Peter Healy, the facilities manager of Mayo University Hospital and Patricia Hough, the on-duty manager, who did extraordinary work along with all the staff at Mayo University Hospital to make sure that the staff were in in a…