Questions

1245. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if it is the current policy of her private office/Department to formally invite or notify all local Oireachtas members of constituency events at which Ministers are in attendance in the course of performing their ministerial duties and functions; if she will provide the Department's current policy or protocol on this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. …

1246. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health to provide a list of all events across every constituency attended by the Minister in the course of her ministerial duties since 1 January 2026, where formal invitations/notifications to attend were not issued by her office to all local Oireachtas members; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30618/26]

2740. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health given the considerable cost of the shingles vaccine, if there are plans to make this vaccine available free of charge to those who need it, or to cover the cost of the vaccine through the medical card or long-term illness scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23968/26]

990. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health the length of the waiting list/current length of the waiting time period, for an assessment at the sleep clinic at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital; the number of assessments carried out in 2023, 2024 and 2025; the number of WTEs; the grades across which, groups and categories of staff are assigned to the clinic; the plans in place to expand the clinic to allow it to mak…

436. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health the steps the HSE is taking to ensure that increased resources and supports are made available to radiographer practice tutors in clinical settings to meet the demands placed on the system arising from the increase in the numbers of student radiographers; if the HSE will engage meaningfully with SIPTU on this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21…

1761. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health the plans to review financial supports to allow for subsidised batteries for all long-term hearing aid users, similar to the system in the UK; the plans to increase the grants that reflect the cost of the technology required for professional work environments; if she will reform the HSE audiology eligibility system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1…

1883. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health the number of procedures in total carried out under the National Treatment Purchase Fund in settings in Northern Ireland in each of the years 2023, 2024 and to date in 2026; if she will indicate the number of procedures carried out at each setting/medical company or group; the total paid to each named organisation for the years in question for work carried out under…

1884. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health to provide information on the top ten categories of treatments undertaken in Northern Ireland under the NTPF in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025; the precise number of cases undertaken in each category in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025 under the NTPF in Northern Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19424/26]

1885. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if she will describe any new initiatives currently under consideration, or that are planned, between the State and the executive/health authorities in Northern Ireland to develop greater co-operation and the sharing of expertise to treat patients on a cross-border basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19425/26]

576. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if her Department plans to engage staff from the private sector who work in accountancy and corporate law firms to work in her Department during the course of the upcoming EU Presidency term; the terms under which such staff will be engaged; the number of staff her Department plans to hire; the measures planned to guard against potential conflicts of interest between…

281. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health to set out the policy in her Department regarding the use of artificial intelligence; whether AI is used or permitted in drawing up policy documents, speeches, answers to parliamentary questions, press releases or for other official documents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15620/26]

934. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health the reason HSE chiropody cards are currently only available to individuals living in Dublin and Kildare; if her Department plans to expand the availability of these cards countrywide; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14126/26]

1237. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health when screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a rare genetic condition affecting approximately six babies born in Ireland each year, will be included in the national newborn bloodspot screening programme; if SMA screening will be implemented before the end of March 2026, as cited by a leading paediatric clinician in recent media coverage; the preparations curren…

1075. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health the person or body responsible for oversight of compliance with the Disability Act in CHO 8; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9671/26]

1027. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if she is aware of an eircode lottery in relation to the provision of home care (details supplied); and if her Department has plans to address this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5842/26]

1044. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if she will add inflammatory bowel disease to the list of conditions for inclusion in the long-term illness scheme; if she will describe the criteria deployed under the terms of the Health Act 1970 to include a condition within the ambit of the scheme; if she will agree that the typical experience of patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis allows for th…

1109. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if she is aware of the difficulties people suffering from a rare genetic condition are having in accessing a drug (details supplied); the plans to make this drug more easily available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63665/25]

847. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2502 of 8 September 2025 and the failure of the HSE to provide a full response to the question, if the HSE will confirm the date on which management at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital were first informed of concerns in relation to the performance of a person (details supplied); if the HSE will also confirm the date it was decided th…

848. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2500 of 8 September 2025, if, prior to the Assurance Quality Framework process that identified concerns regarding the miscategorising of pre-cancerous cells by a person (details supplied) at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda whose work is subject to the current lookback review, any complaints or concerns were raised with man…

583. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if there are plans to extend the MRI service at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital to a seven-day service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49599/25]

2402. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health her views on a matter (details supplied) in relation to the standards and criteria for counsellors and psychotherapists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45847/25]

2503. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if the ‘lookback’ review of matters relating to the miscategorising of pre-cancerous cells by a consultant at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda was prompted exclusively by the hospital’s quality assurance process or were concerns over the performance of the consultant in question raised independently, and in any other context, with management; and if she will…

2504. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health to confirm the current employment status of the consultant who is the subject of the review into matters relating to the miscategorising of pre-cancerous cells by a medic at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda; if the consultant is still operating in a patient-facing role; if not, on which date were they taken out of a patient-facing role; are there any similar…

2505. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health for the date on which hospital management and the HSE were first informed of the issues that prompted the ‘lookback’ review into matters relating to the miscategorising of pre-cancerous cells by a consultant at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda; the steps management took from that date to the HSE’s media statement announcing the review on the 26 August 2025; …

2516. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Health if a verbal and/or written briefing was provided to An Taoiseach, his officials or political staff by any official of her Department, the HSE, the she and/or her staff in relation to the identification of issues regarding a consultant at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and the miscategorising of pre-cancerous cells which is the subject of an independent review; the dat…