Questions

1129. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health which body holds ultimate responsibility for setting national dispatch-time standards in Ireland. [34657/26]

1130. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the existing Priority Dispatch Standard includes defined maximum time thresholds for call handling and resource allocation, and if not, whether this absence has been reviewed. [34658/26]

1131. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health her plans to pass all stages of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 before the summer recess; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34665/26]

1132. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Health her views on whether it is acceptable that health insurance providers are entitled to penalise insured persons if they choose to upgrade their policies by creating an interim period whereby cover is not provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34669/26]

1133. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Health if she will take steps to ensure that health insurance providers are not allowed to penalise customers who are already in receipt of health insurance cover, for upgrading their policies by creating an interim period whereby cover is not provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34670/26]

1134. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Health if she will confirm whether it is the case that health insurance providers are entitled to penalise customers that have existing health insurance policies for upgrading to a higher level of cover by creating an interim period whereby cover is not provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34671/26]

1135. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Health the position regarding any engagement she has had with private health insurance companies to ensure that their customers are treated fairly and within the parameters of their insurance agreements; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34672/26]

1136. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Health if her Department will commit to creating a social support group (details supplied) that will help deal with the serious issue of isolation particularly in vulnerable groups who are often isolated at home and are disconnected from the wider community; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34705/26]

1137. Deputy John Paul O'Shea asked the Minister for Health if she will provide a list of all capital projects, including hospital, primary care centre and other health infrastructure works delivered by her Department or the HSE, which have been completed on time and within budget in Cork North-West in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34735/26]

1138. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health to respond to matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); to clarify the criteria for urgent discharge from outpatient psychiatric services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34751/26]

1139. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health if she will consider as a matter of policy providing an annual free allowance of compression sleeves to patients being treated for lymphoedema within the public health system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34758/26]

1140. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of residents in designated centres for older persons who were issued with a discharge notice, notice to terminate their contract of care, or any equivalent notice requiring them to leave the nursing home in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; broken down by HSE health region, county, public, private and voluntary provider type, and whethe…

1141. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of discharge notices, notices to terminate contracts of care, or equivalent notices issued to nursing home residents in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026 which were subsequently withdrawn; the reasons recorded for withdrawal; whether the withdrawal followed intervention by the HSE, HIQA, safeguarding services, an advocate, a family membe…

1142. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the recorded outcomes for nursing home residents who were issued with a discharge notice or equivalent notice in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, including the number who transferred to another nursing home, were admitted to hospital, returned home with supports, remained in the same nursing home, died before transfer, or had another outcome; and…

1143. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of nursing home residents who were admitted to an emergency department within seven, 14 and 30 days of being issued with a discharge notice, notice to terminate their contract of care, or equivalent notice in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of such admissions that were due to an acute medical event, a fall, behavioural or p…

1144. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE, HIQA, the National Treatment Purchase Fund or her Department collects data linking nursing home discharge notices with subsequent emergency department attendance, hospital admission, delayed discharge, safeguarding referral or transfer to another nursing home; if not, the reason this data is not collected; whether she accepts that this is a signi…

1145. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of residents of nursing homes admitted to emergency departments in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of such admissions by HSE health region, hospital group and age cohort; the primary recorded reasons for admission, including falls, infection, deterioration in physical health, mental health or behavioural distress, medicatio…

1146. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether any data is collected on cases in which a nursing home resident, family member, advocate or representative made a complaint or raised concerns about care and was subsequently issued with a discharge notice, notice to terminate a contract of care, or equivalent notice within 90-days; if so, the number of such cases in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to da…

1147. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of referrals or contacts made to HSE safeguarding teams in respect of nursing homes in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of such referrals which related to discharge notices, threatened discharge, or concerns about the manner in which a transfer or discharge was being managed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. […

1152. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of occasions in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026 on which a nursing home sought additional funding, staffing support, clinical support, specialist input or other resources because a resident's care needs had increased; the body to which such requests were made; the number approved, refused or still pending; the average time to decision;…

1153. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of nursing home residents in in each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026 whose care needs were deemed by a nursing home to have exceeded the capacity of that nursing home to provide safe care; the number of such cases that resulted in a discharge notice, hospital admission, transfer to another nursing home or referral to the HSE; and if she wil…

1154. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the specialist supports that are available to nursing homes when a resident's care needs increase, including access to geriatric medicine, psychiatry of later life, palliative care, dementia-specific supports, behavioural support, tissue viability nursing, dietetics, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and social work; whether access …

1160. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health the number of discharge notices, notices to terminate contracts of care, or equivalent notices issued to residents supported under the nursing homes support scheme compared with residents paying privately in 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34779/26]

1161. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health whether she will commission a review of the issuing of discharge notices and termination of contracts of care in nursing homes, including the extent to which such notices follow complaints by families, increased care needs, safeguarding concerns, funding disputes, staffing limitations or inability to access specialist supports; whether such a review will examine …

1162. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health to urgently examine a matter and assist a family (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34783/26]