Questions

1152. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department accepts that significant questions raised by Members of the Oireachtas and by Oireachtas Committees in relation to Children’s Health Ireland remain unanswered; the steps which have been taken to ensure full and timely disclosure to Dáil Éireann; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6561/26]

1153. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the assessment which has been carried out by her Department regarding the effectiveness, performance, and accountability of the board and senior executive management of Children’s Health Ireland; whether any findings of underperformance or governance failure were identified; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6562/26]

1154. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department considers that the repeated governance and oversight failures at Children’s Health Ireland constitute a systemic risk to patient safety; the risk mitigation measures which have been implemented; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6563/26]

1155. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the instructions or guidance which have been issued by her Department to Children’s Health Ireland regarding transparency, cooperation with parliamentary scrutiny, and disclosure of information to Oireachtas Members; the way compliance with these obligations is monitored; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6564/26]

1156. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she retains confidence in the current governance structures of Children’s Health Ireland; the objective criteria that confidence is based; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6565/26]

972. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of children eligible for school dental screening in each of the years 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025, broken down by school cohort, and the number actually screened in each year, by HSE CHO area; and to outline the measures taken by her Department to ensure that national screening coverage targets are met in light of reported staffing shorta…

973. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of dentists employed by the HSE in the public dental service in each of the years 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and to date in 2025; the number of approved but unfilled dentist posts currently within the HSE, by CHO area; and to outline the Department's assessment of whether current staffing levels are sufficient to deliver the statutory school dental screenin…

974. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the policy analysis undertaken by her Department on the impact of reduced access to school dental screening on child oral health outcomes, including untreated decay and delayed intervention; whether this issue has been identified as a public health risk within departmental planning; and the steps being taken to address these risks within existing health…

975. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has conducted or commissioned a workforce planning review of the public dental service in the past five years; if so, to provide details of the findings relevant to recruitment and retention of dentists within the HSE; and to outline the policy measures currently in place or under consideration to improve recruitment and retention in the public d…

2074. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any written guidance, directions, circulars, or instructions to the HSE since 2018 concerning the automatic approval of gender-affirming surgical procedures under the treatment abroad scheme; and if not, how ministerial oversight is exercised over approvals that carry significant and rising Exchequer cost. [74020/25]

2075. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to set out, in respect of the years 2015 to 2019 inclusive, the total annual expenditure incurred by the HSE on gender-affirming surgical procedures funded under the treatment abroad scheme; the number of patients funded in each year; the average cost per patient in each year; the highest and lowest amounts reimbursed per patient in each year; and whether her Dep…

2080. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 905 of 9 December 2025, if her Department receives, holds, or reviews data from the primary care reimbursement service on medical card eligibility decisions where discretion is exercised following a means assessment; the number of such discretionary eligibility decisions made in respect of persons aged over 70 in each of the …

2161. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the national datasets her Department requires for governance, planning, financial control, and performance oversight of all services funded under the health vote, for each dataset, whether it is currently fully operational, partially operational, or not in place; the legislative, policy, or administrative basis on which each dataset is required; and the timeline …

2162. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has approved a national set of key performance indicators for monitoring recruitment activity, vacancy levels, clearance timelines, and the delivery of development posts across services funded under the Health Vote; if so, to list those KPIs and the date on which they were approved; if not, to state the reason such KPIs have not been approved, g…

2163. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the controls used by her Department to oversee the staffing and pay envelope funded under the Health Vote pending the full rollout of the national integrated staff records and pay system; the proportion of the HSE workforce currently covered by that system; the projected completion date for national rollout; and whether her Department has identified any financial…

2164. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department estimates the annual cost to the Health Vote arising from delayed transfers of care linked to housing shortages; the methodology used by her Department to calculate bed-day costs associated with delayed discharges; if such costs are reported to her Department on a routine basis; and the date by which she intends to introduce regular national cos…

2165. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance and policy framework approved by her Department for gender identity services for children and young people; the date of the most recent Departmental review of that framework; the role of her Department in setting safeguarding and clinical governance standards for these services; and how compliance with those standards is monitored at national level…

2166. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the national datasets her Department requires for planning, oversight, and safeguarding of gender identity services for minors, including referral volumes, diagnostic profiles, and treatment pathways; which of those datasets are not currently in place; and the timeline for establishing a national dataset aligned with evidence-based clinical governance standards. …

2167. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health her Department’s policy for evaluating international clinical guidance prior to alignment with national healthcare frameworks; the assessments carried out by her Department on the WPATH Standards of Care between 2018 and 2023; and the timeline for completing a formal review of those standards in light of the Cass Review. [74398/25]

2168. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the national reporting requirements approved by her Department for waiting times in publicly funded addiction services; the reason a comprehensive national waiting-time dataset is not currently available; and the timeline for introducing full national reporting of assessment and treatment waiting times. [74399/25]

2169. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has adopted any population-based workforce planning benchmark or consultant-to-patient ratio for the provision of chronic pain services; if so, to specify the benchmark applied; and if not, to explain how the adequacy of current consultant capacity is assessed for governance and service planning purposes. [74400/25]

2170. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average waiting time, by hospital group, for a first outpatient assessment in publicly funded chronic pain services at the end of Q4 2025; the longest waiting time recorded nationally; and the number of patients waiting longer than six months and longer than twelve months for an initial appointment. [74401/25]

2171. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the proportion of patients diagnosed with chronic pain who are managed without access to a specialist consultant-led pain service due to capacity constraints; and the assessment her Department has made of the clinical, social, and economic impacts of managing chronic pain outside specialist services. [74402/25]

2172. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if the current number of whole-time equivalent consultants delivering chronic pain services meets any recognised international guideline, standard, or comparator used by her Department; and if not, the actions planned, with timelines, to align consultant capacity with population need. [74403/25]

2173. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department or the Health Service Executive maintains any national dataset recording cases where a baby is born alive following a termination of pregnancy carried out under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; and if not, the rationale for the absence of such a dataset given her Department’s statutory responsibility for governance, …