Questions

501. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if there will be an expansion of fostering services to match the projected need in the area in Cavan Monaghan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18221/26]

502. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether there will be increase in funding and staffing for Tusla in the Cavan Monaghan area to meet the needs and provide services for children and families availing of Tusla services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18222/26]

503. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No's 825, 820 and 822 of 30 September 2025, when responses will issue to the queries raised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18228/26]

504. Deputy Naoise Ó Cearúil asked the Minister for Health the reason for recent changes (details supplied) relating to paramedics in the National Ambulance Service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17926/26]

505. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health to urgently address an issue, whereby the increases in the State pension is pushing many senior citizens over the threshold for a medical card, thus causing the loss of full medical card; if he will consult with the Department of Health to ensure that the medical card thresholds are raised in line with pension rises; and if she will make a statement on the matt…

506. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health for an overview of the proposed health infrastructure developments in Kerry during 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17503/26]

507. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health for an update on plans to expand acute bed capacity in University Hospital Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17504/26]

508. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Health the current status, from a public expenditure and approvals perspective, of capital projects at Beaumont Hospital including the emergency department, additional inpatient bed capacity and diagnostic infrastructure; whether her Department has identified any delays or blockages in progressing these projects from approval to construction; the steps being taken to …

509. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health the measures her Department is taking to provide an occupational therapist for Laois, as there has been none in the county since 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13097/26]

510. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health to consider the reintroduction of paid special leave for those public sector workers suffering from long-Covid; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10739/26]

511. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Health if she is satisfied that food imported into Ireland by food processing companies and used in processed foods is correctly labelled with country of origin in relation to the ingredients of such products; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6779/26]

512. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when she expects to make a decision on the report prepared by the expert group established by the HSE to examine the implications of the final review (details supplied) for gender-related healthcare services in Ireland; whether she has received and reviewed that report; whether any recommendations within it relate to safeguarding, clinical standards, or risk-mitig…

513. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the way in which she can defend the development or revision of national policy and models of care for gender identity services for children and young people in circumstances where the Health Service Executive has confirmed that neither her Department or the HSE has any policy governing the collection, verification, or publication of data on referrals, diagnoses, c…

514. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the way in which she satisfies herself that public funds are being spent in a manner that meets basic standards of governance, safeguarding, and accountability (details supplied); and whether she accepts that reliance on financial audit alone does not constitute effective oversight. [9969/26]

515. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health if she will review the correspondence (details supplied); if she will review the current supports available to healthcare workers diagnosed with long-Covid who contracted the illness in the course of their employment during the Covid pandemic; if she will outline the rationale for the cessation of the special leave with pay (SLWP) arrangements and the transition t…

516. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health further to the publication of the draft National Drugs Strategy 2026–2029, to outline the proposed governance, funding flows and accountability arrangements for the regional structures within the HSE health regions; whether local drug and alcohol task forces will retain independent governance and decision-making authority over locally delivered programmes; and if…

517. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health the way in which funding will be allocated within the proposed regional structures under the draft National Drugs Strategy 2026–2029; whether deprivation, social exclusion and patterns of entrenched drug-related harm will be formally weighted alongside population in determining resource allocation; and if she will publish the criteria to be used by HSE health reg…

518. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health whether, under the proposed regional structures in the draft National Drugs Strategy 2026–2029, all public funding for community-based drug services, including local drug and alcohol task forces, will be pooled at HSE health region level; the safeguards that will be put in place to prevent dilution of funding to areas of high deprivation; and if she will make a s…

519. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Health whether there has been a change in policy within the National Ambulance Service regarding the transition of graduating paramedics from specified purpose contracts to permanent positions; the reason for requiring an internal competition process; the number of paramedics which are affected in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17908/26]

520. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health further to the publication of the draft National Drugs Strategy 2026–2029, the proposed governance, funding flows and accountability arrangements for the regional structures within the HSE Health Regions; whether local drug and alcohol task forces will retain independent governance and decision-making authority over locally delivered programmes; and if she will make…

521. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the way in which funding will be allocated within the proposed regional structures under the draft National Drugs Strategy 2026–2029; whether deprivation, social exclusion and patterns of entrenched drug-related harm will be formally weighted alongside population in determining resource allocation; and if she will publish the criteria to be used by HSE health region…

522. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health whether, under the proposed regional structures in the draft National Drugs Strategy 2026–2029, all public funding for community-based drug services, including local drug and alcohol task forces, will be pooled at HSE health region level; the safeguards that will be put in place to prevent dilution of funding to areas of high deprivation; and if she will make a stat…

523. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health to provide the actual live birth outcomes for the State-funded IVF scheme to date; the number of women who commenced a treatment cycle; the number of live births resulting from those cycles; the average cost to the State per live birth achieved; and to outline why only estimated clinical pregnancy rates per embryo transfer, rather than verified live birth data, …

524. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Restorative Reproductive Medicine (RRM) as a treatment for infertility; and whether consideration will be given to supporting or funding RRM as an alternative or complementary option to IVF, particularly for couples who cannot access IVF for religious or personal reasons. [1…

525. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Health the specific steps being taken to ensure the HSE considers the time-critical nature of Friedreich’s ataxia during the current price negotiations for Skyclarys, the only drug approved for treatment of this condition, given the 570 days since the application for use was lodged and the rapid progression of the disease in sufferers; and if she will make a statement …