592. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether national targets exist for maximum waiting times for home support services; if not, whether she intends to introduce such targets; and the timeline for achieving measurable reductions in waiting lists in Cork city and county. [11407/26]
Parliamentary questions
Questions
TDs ask ministers questions to get answers on the record, most of them in writing. Here is every one asked in the 34th Dáil, by the department it went to and the subject heading it was filed under. How questions work
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Showing questions asked by Ken O'Flynn .
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593. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the way in which current home support waiting list levels align with Sláintecare commitments to care in the community; whether her Department accepts that prolonged delays undermine that policy objective; and what corrective actions are planned. [11408/26]
594. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what population-based demand modelling her Department uses to project future home support needs; whether Cork’s ageing profile has been factored into capacity planning; and whether additional funding or staffing allocations are planned for 2026. [11409/26]
595. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide, for each year from 2020 to 2025 inclusive, the total gross expenditure met from Vote funding under the treatment abroad scheme in respect of patients aged under 18 years; the number of prior authorisations approved in each year for this age cohort; and the aggregate expenditure per year associated with those approvals. [11439/26]
596. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department categorises or tracks treatment abroad scheme expenditure by treatment type or clinical category, including gender-related healthcare; and if so, to set out the categories used, the year in which such categorisation commenced; and how this information is used for expenditure control and policy oversight. [11440/26]
597. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the expenditure-control framework applied by her Department to the treatment abroad scheme since 2020, including whether any annual or multi-annual budget ceilings, control totals, or sanction limits have been set at Departmental level; and if not, the reason no such ceilings apply to this area of Vote expenditure. [11441/26]
598. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to detail the governance and approval chain within her Department and the HSE for managing treatment abroad scheme expenditure, including the name of the responsible Division in her Department, the budget holder accountable for TAS expenditure, and the role of the Department’s Eligibility Unit in monitoring or approving budget variances. [11442/26]
599. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to list all audits, reviews, or value-for-money examinations conducted since 2020 by or on behalf of her Department, the HSE Internal Audit function, or the Comptroller and Auditor General that included the treatment abroad scheme; and for each audit to provide the year conducted, scope, principal findings, and whether any recommendations were made regarding expen…
600. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that neither her Department nor the HSE currently operates any national key performance indicators governing recruitment clearance timelines, including Garda vetting, occupational health clearance, HR approval stages, or the time from job offer to commencement; whether she considers the absence of such KPIs compatible with effective workforce p…
601. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she will issue a formal policy direction to the HSE to introduce mandatory national key performance indicators for recruitment clearance and appointment timelines, including external candidate onboarding; whether such KPIs will apply uniformly across all health regions; and the quarter and year by which full national KPI reporting on recruitment timelines …
602. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the impact of recruitment control measures introduced in 2023 and 2024 on clearance delays, vacancy persistence, and service delivery; whether the absence of clearance-timeline KPIs has limited the State’s ability to quantify those impacts; and if she will publish any internal reviews, analyses, or briefings undertaken by her De…
603. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the way in which national accountability for recruitment performance is maintained following the establishment of six health regions under Sláintecare, in circumstances where recruitment clearance timelines are not measured at national level; whether she accepts that devolving workforce autonomy without national clearance benchmarks weakens oversight; and the step…
315. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Health Service Executive has completed, or is in the process of completing, any National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics Rapid Review, Health Technology Assessment, or other formal evaluation for tirzepatide (mounjaro) and semaglutide (wegovy) for obesity or weight management; the date on which each assessment commenced; the current stage reached in each …
316. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Health Service Executive or her Department has prepared, commissioned, received, or reviewed any cost-effectiveness analysis, budget impact analysis, or economic model relating to the use of GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines for obesity or weight management, including semaglutide and tirzepatide; whether any such analysis includes modelling of downstrea…
317. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the policy or decision framework used by the Health Service Executive when considering prevention-based outcomes, including reductions in the future incidence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, in medicines reimbursement decisions under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013; and whether the Department has issued, or inten…
318. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken or commissioned any assessment of the equity implications of current access arrangements for GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines for obesity or weight management, including the extent to which access is determined by capacity to pay out of pocket rather than clinical need; and whether the forthcoming national obesity strategy wil…
319. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide the eligibility criteria, prescribing settings, and clinical governance requirements applying to the managed access system under which liraglutide (Saxenda) is reimbursed under the General Medical Services and Drugs Payment Schemes; and to provide the number of patients approved under this pathway in each of the years 2024 and 2025, and to date in 2026.…
320. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current policy position of her Department on whether GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines for obesity or weight management should be eligible for reimbursement under the Drugs Payment Scheme, subject to health technology assessment and clinical governance; whether any policy review is under way in the context of the development of the new national obesity strategy…
321. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the national obesity strategy currently in development will explicitly address the role of pharmacological treatment for obesity, including eligibility, reimbursement pathways, and equity of access; and whether she will outline how medicines policy is being aligned with the objectives of that strategy. [10660/26]
324. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department recognises that, for some people with disabilities and people receiving home-care supports, pharmacist-prepared monitored dosage systems, including blister packs, are clinically required to ensure safe medication administration and compliance; whether any national clinical guidance, policy circular, or Department-approved criteria exist to d…
325. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken, or commissioned, any patient safety or risk assessment regarding the withdrawal or non-funding of pharmacist-prepared blister packs for people with disabilities or cognitive impairment who rely on such supports in a home-care setting; the findings of any such assessment; and if none has been undertaken, when such an assessmen…
326. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has carried out a disability impact assessment, equality impact assessment, or human rights analysis in respect of the non-funding of monitored dosage systems, including blister packs, under the long-term Illness scheme; and if she will confirm whether the implications for people with disabilities living independently or with home-care suppo…
327. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when her Department first became aware that monitored dosage systems, including blister packs, were being provided to patients in practice while pharmacies claimed phased dispensing fees; the policy, governance, or compliance actions that were taken by her Department at that time; and if she will outline the Department’s oversight responsibilities in respect of en…
328. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what interim safeguards or guidance have been issued by her Department to ensure that patients with disabilities or complex medication needs do not experience disruption to medication compliance supports during the current pause in changes to phased dispensing arrangements; and whether clinicians or pharmacists have discretion to continue such supports where clini…
329. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the mechanism that exist, or are being considered, whereby a clinician, pharmacist, or multidisciplinary care team may formally certify that monitored dosage systems, including blister packs, are clinically necessary for an individual patient; and whether such certification would permit continued provision without cost to the patient under existing schemes. [10673…