380. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the oversight mechanisms which exist within her Department to ensure that National Ambulance Service performance metrics adequately capture risks associated with prolonged emergency response times; and whether those mechanisms have been reviewed in light of rising demand and persistent emergency department congestion. [8876/26]
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 .
3,835 questions match, newest first.
386. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has adopted, endorsed, or relied upon any national policy, workforce planning framework, or service specification for chronic pain services which sets out recommended consultant whole-time equivalent capacity per head of population; and if so, to provide the title, date, and issuing authority of each such document. [8886/26]
387. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted, commissioned, or received any population-needs assessment of chronic pain service consultant capacity since 2019, including any modelling of required consultant whole-time equivalents by Community Healthcare Organisation or Hospital Group; and if so, to provide the date, scope, and main findings. [8887/26]
388. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance arrangements by which her Department assures itself that consultant capacity in chronic pain services is adequate to meet population need, including the key performance indicators, reporting cadence, and the senior accountable officer within her Department; and if she will provide the most recent available reporting outputs. [8888/26]
389. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether chronic pain services are included within any current Consultant Workforce Plan, National Service Plan deliverable, or waiting list action plan overseen by her Department; and if so, to set out the targets, funding allocations, and timelines applicable in 2026 and 2027. [8889/26]
390. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department requires the HSE to report, on a routine basis, the number of chronic pain service consultants in post, approved posts, vacancies, and waiting times by site; and if so, to state the reporting frequency and the most recent date on which such a report was received by her Department. [8890/26]
391. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any direction, circular, or guidance to the HSE since 2023 in relation to capacity expansion, recruitment, or service configuration for chronic pain services; and if so, to provide the date, subject, and a copy of each document. [8891/26]
392. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department will direct the HSE and PCRS to implement a temporary national reimbursement protocol, for the duration of the current salbutamol nebule shortages, in order that clinically equivalent substitutes are reimbursed without individual case by case applications under discretionary hardship arrangements; and if so, when this protocol will commence.…
393. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has received from the HSE or PCRS an estimate of the number of medical card holders who have required alternative reimbursed products due to salbutamol nebule shortages since 1 January 2025; and if so, to provide the estimate and the methodology used. [8893/26]
394. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of discretionary hardship arrangements applications received by the PCRS for inhaled nebule presentations of short-acting bronchodilators, including salbutamol substitutes, in each month since 1 January 2025; the number approved; the number refused; and the median processing time in each month. [8894/26]
395. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department will require the HSE to publish clear public guidance for patients and pharmacies during shortages of reimbursable medicines, including the exact reimbursement pathway and documentation required; and if so, when this guidance will be published and where it will be accessible. [8895/26]
396. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the risk to patient safety arising from requiring medical card holders to obtain GP reassessment or alternative prescribing solely due to a supply disruption of a reimbursable medicine; and if so, to provide the date and conclusions of that assessment. [8896/26]
397. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has asked the HSE to provide a written instruction to community pharmacies confirming that eligible medical card holders should not be asked to pay privately for clinically required alternatives, where reimbursement is available through hardship or other mechanisms; if so, the date that instruction issued; and the mechanism for ensuring cons…
398. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department will establish an automatic “shortage substitution” reimbursement mechanism within the PCRS for defined categories of essential medicines, where the HPRA has confirmed a shortage and the HSE has identified clinically equivalent substitutes; if so, the timeline for delivery; and whether primary legislation is required. [8898/26]
399. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department maintains a central register of CHI-related reviews and reports, including publication decisions and follow-up actions; when the register was established; who is accountable for it; and whether she will publish it. [8901/26]
400. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to set out the terms of reference, membership, and reporting outputs of the CHI Improvement Steering Group, including whether minutes, action logs, or progress reports are provided to her Department; and if so, to provide the most recent progress report received by her Department. [8902/26]
401. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to her stated intention to integrate CHI into the HSE by 2027, the legislative and operational milestones scheduled for 2026, including the responsible unit within her Department; and the timeline for Government decisions required in 2026. [8906/26]
402. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if a disabled person who has a long-term illness (LTI) card that covers their medications and prescription charges, is entitled to have their medication provided in essential blister packs under the LTI card. [8908/26]
975. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she has received, reviewed, or been briefed on the report prepared by the expert group established by the HSE to examine the implications of the final of a review (details supplied) for gender-related healthcare services in Ireland; the date on which she first received or was informed of this report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7497/26…
976. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the expert group report examining the implications of a review (details supplied) contains any findings or recommendations relating specifically to gender-related healthcare for children and adolescents; whether those findings differ from existing Irish clinical practice; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7498/26]
977. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts the findings and recommendations of the expert group report examining the implications of a review (details supplied) for gender-related healthcare services; whether she has approved, rejected, or deferred any recommendations arising from that report; and the rationale for her position. [7499/26]
978. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any changes to national policy, clinical governance, or risk-mitigation measures for gender-related healthcare for minors have been approved by her since the completion of the expert group report; and if not, the reasons no such changes have been made. [7500/26]
979. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 503 of 4 December 2025, whether she will provide the total approved pay allocation for funded posts within CHO4 for the year 2024; the total pay expenditure actually incurred in that year; the resulting variance, if any; the reason this information was not furnished in the response; and if she will make a statement on the matt…
980. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department receives, on an annual or monthly basis, data on funded posts, vacancy levels, and unused pay allocations across each Community Healthcare Organisation; whether this data informed the 2024 and 2025 health Estimates; and if she will outline the accountability framework in place to ensure that Exchequer-approved staffing funds are either deplo…
981. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that the absence of publicly available data on the value of unfilled funded posts within CHO4 represents a deficiency in financial transparency; whether she has directed the HSE to standardise reporting of funded vacancies and associated pay underspends across all CHOs; and when such reporting will be made available to the Oireachtas. [7533/26]