Questions

553. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has approved, directed, agreed to, or otherwise authorised any performance reporting methodology under the Health Service Executive National Service Plan whereby clinical status 1 purple or red emergency ambulance calls with response times exceeding 60 minutes are excluded, truncated, capped, or otherwise omitted from published National Ambu…

554. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the current National Ambulance Service key performance Indicator (KPI) framework, including the absence of any maximum response time thresholds for clinical status 1 purple and red calls, has been formally approved, endorsed or noted by her Department; the date on which the current KPI framework was last reviewed by her Department; and whether any review o…

556. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department of Health Enterprise Risk Management Framework identifies prolonged ambulance response times for life-threatening emergencies as a strategic or operational risk; if so, the risk rating currently assigned; and if not, whether she will require that this risk be formally assessed and recorded. [15891/26]

557. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal Departmental briefings, submissions, memoranda or governance reviews since 2020 have considered the question of whether emergency ambulance response times exceeding 60 minutes should be classified or recorded as patient safety incidents; and if so, to outline the conclusions reached. [15892/26]

558. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of occasions in 2025 on which the National Ambulance Service operated at NASCAP level 3; the duration in days of each such period; whether any escalation to level 4 was considered; and the formal reporting mechanism by which such escalation levels are notified to her Department. [15893/26]

559. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken or commissioned any comparative review of international ambulance service performance governance frameworks, including the use of outlier response time reporting, since 2018; and if so, to provide the title and date of such review and the principal findings. [15894/26]

560. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1121 of 7 February 2026,to provide a detailed implementation schedule for each recommendation contained in the Emerging Health Threats Steering Group (ESG) Report published in October 2024, including for each recommendation; the decision taken by her Department; the approving authority, the decision date; the accountable divis…

561. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1121 of 7 February 2026, to list all funding approvals issued by her Department arising from the ESG Report since October 2024, including for each approval; the programme title; vote and subhead; amount approved for each financial year; whether the funding is current or capital, the approval date, and the body receiving the fu…

562. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance and reporting arrangements to Government in respect of the Health Threats Advisory Committee established in 2025, including its terms of reference, reporting frequency, the senior official accountable within her Department, and the dates of meetings held to date. [15897/26]

563. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance, statutory or administrative basis, and reporting structure of the cross-departmental One Health Oversight Committee established in 2025, including the Departments formally represented and the number of meetings held to date. [15898/26]

564. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1121 of 7 February 2026, to provide the approved governance structure, staffing complement, procurement route, budget allocation, and expected operational commencement date for the Evidence Synthesis Hub for Health Emergency Preparedness. [15899/26]

565. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current stage of development of the National Health Threats Preparedness Plan; including the responsible Division; the anticipated publication date; whether draft Heads have been prepared; and whether the Plan will be placed on a statutory footing. [15900/26]

566. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1121 of 7 February 2026, to list the pandemic preparedness simulation exercises that have taken place since 2022; including the date; organising authority; participating State bodies, whether an after-action report was completed, and whether any such reports were submitted to her Department. [15901/26]

567. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the key performance indicators her Department uses to monitor national preparedness for emerging health threats; the date each indicator was first adopted; and the most recent reporting date for each indicator to the Minister. [15902/26]

568. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance framework within her Department for oversight of the Public Only Consultant Contract since its introduction in March 2023; including the responsible Division; the senior accountable official, the reporting frequency; and the titles and dates of any oversight reports received by her since that date. [15903/26]

569. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the key performance indicators and outcome measures used by her Department to assess whether the objectives of the Public Only Consultant Contract are being met; and to provide the baseline date and most recent reporting date for each such indicator. [15904/26]

570. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any formal reporting requirements, policy directions, or data specifications to the HSE in relation to monitoring consultant working patterns under the Public Only Consultant Contract since March 2023, and to provide the date and title of each such direction. [15905/26]

571. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has commissioned, received, or reviewed any audit, evaluation, or value-for-money assessment of the Public Only Consultant Contract since its introduction, and if so, to provide the title, authoring body, and completion date of each such assessment. [15906/26]

572. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what interim monitoring or assurance mechanisms her Department relies upon where complete hospital-group-level reporting of consultant evening, weekend and public holiday hours is not available, and to state the date on which each such mechanism commenced. [15907/26]

573. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department receives, on a scheduled and recurring basis, written reports from the Health Service Executive specifically relating to gender identity services provided to persons under 18 years of age; if so, the frequency of such reports; the categories of data included, including activity levels, waiting list numbers, safeguarding notifications, advers…

574. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has required the Health Service Executive to provide any dedicated safeguarding assurance report, audit report, or governance review relating specifically to gender identity services for minors since 1 January 2020; if so, the date of each such report and whether it has been reviewed at Secretary General or Corporate Governance Committee lev…

575. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department has established any formal oversight framework, reporting template, performance dashboard, or key performance indicators specific to gender identity services for persons under 18 years of age; and if not, whether she intends to establish such a framework. [15920/26]

576. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department maintains a formal monitoring or compliance framework to assess the timeliness and completeness of responses provided by bodies under her aegis to Parliamentary Questions and other formal requests from Members of the Oireachtas; and if so, the nature of that framework and the office responsible for maintaining it. [15921/26]

577. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has recorded, since 1 January 2023, any concerns, warnings, or internal assessments regarding the adequacy or timeliness of responses provided by Children’s Health Ireland to Members of the Oireachtas; and if so, the number of such recorded instances and the governance actions taken. [15922/26]

578. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether decisions relating to the publication or non-publication of reports concerning Children’s Health Ireland are recorded in writing within her Department; whether a central register of such decisions is maintained; and the grade or office responsible for oversight of such publication decisions. [15923/26]