332. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if she is satisfied that all procedures performed in public hospitals that are not clinically indicated are subject to proper oversight, transparency, and cost controls, and to outline what reforms are planned to ensure that theatre resources are prioritised for patients on clinically necessary waiting lists. [66567/25]
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.
333. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason her Department and the HSE do not maintain a record of approved HSE posts that remain unfilled for more than six months; the mechanisms currently used to monitor persistent vacancies of this kind; the way in which her Department assesses the financial effect of these long-term vacancies on the Exchequer and the impact of such vacancies on service delive…
334. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to specify how her Department calculates the financial implications arising from HSE posts that remain unfilled for more than six months, including the projected savings, additional costs linked to overtime or agency staffing, and the effect on service capacity; and to outline whether a standard methodology is applied across HSE regions. [66569/25]
335. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health how her Department assesses the effect of long-term vacant posts on service delivery, including waiting lists, emergency department pressures and specialist care capacity; and to detail any measures she intends to introduce to ensure persistent vacancies are identified, monitored and addressed as part of the National Service Plan 2026. [66570/25]
336. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the policy and operational basis on which the HSE seeks the retrospective recovery of specialist qualification allowances from staff who received the allowance in good faith over an extended period, where the allowance had been approved and paid by management; to confirm whether a formal appeals or waiver process exists for such cases; to outline the legal and HR …
829. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current HSE policy on providing elective, non-medical circumcision procedures in public hospitals, and the decision pathway used to approve or decline such requests. [65347/25]
830. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of elective, non-medical circumcisions performed in public hospitals in each of the past five years, by hospital, and the number of theatre sessions allocated for these procedures. [65348/25]
831. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national clinical guidelines exist for the provision of non-medical circumcision in public hospitals, and if so who approved those guidelines, when they were approved, and whether the HSE reviewed their budget or theatre-time implications. [65349/25]
832. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether public hospitals are authorised to offer non-medical circumcision without a medical indication, and the oversight or audit process in place to track such procedures. [65350/25]
833. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost to the HSE of providing non-medical circumcision in public hospitals in each of the past five years, including consultant time, theatre use, anaesthesia, and post-operative care. [65351/25]
834. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the criteria used to determine whether a procedure without medical indication may be carried out in a public hospital, and whether this includes cultural or religious requests, and if so how the HSE ensures these procedures do not displace medically necessary care. [65352/25]
835. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any risk or capacity assessment has been carried out on the effect of elective, non-medical procedures on waiting lists for paediatric surgery, urology, ENT, orthopaedics, and other pressure areas. [65353/25]
836. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether public hospitals are required to report the volume of elective non-medical procedures they perform, and whether the Department receives regular reviews of the total theatre time assigned to these procedures. [65354/25]
881. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the full projected impact of the proposed rise in the health-insurance levy for 2026; the expected increase in annual costs for adult and child policyholders; the total number of policyholders affected; the financial effect on families on modest incomes; the basis on which her Department approved the rise; whether any assessment was carried out on the effect on ho…
882. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the expected impact of the increase in stamp duty on health insurance policies from 1 April 2026; the number of adult and child policyholders affected on advanced and non-advanced plans; the average additional cost per policy per year; the projected extra revenue for the risk equalisation fund; and whether any assessment has been carried out on the effect on famil…
883. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the main cost drivers behind the need for a supplementary estimate for the health budget in 2025, by acute hospitals, primary care, agency staffing, and temporary schemes; the specific management or efficiency measures introduced to control these costs; and the means by which the Department will ensure that further overspends in 2026 do not lead to new charges or …
884. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the approved whole-time equivalent staffing levels for Arbour House, St Finbarr’s Hospital, for each year 2023, 2024 and 2025, broken down by role, and the number of posts that remain unfilled in each year. [65758/25]
885. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average number of service users assigned to each addiction counsellor in Arbour House in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025. [65759/25]
886. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of service users waiting for an initial assessment in Arbour House who have been waiting more than 12 weeks, more than 24 weeks and more than 36 weeks. [65760/25]
887. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of approved 2024 HSE development posts that are currently filled by temporary staff and by agency staff, broken down by staff grade; the reasons these figures were not included in the HSE’s reply (details supplied). [65766/25]
888. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average length of time taken for an applicant for a 2024 HSE development post to complete the clearance process before being placed on payroll; the number of applicants currently in clearance for more than 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months; and the operational reasons for these delays. [65767/25]
889. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the impact of the 2024–2025 HSE employment control measures on the staffing targets approved for 2024; the number of posts for which recruitment was paused or deferred as a result; and the expected timeline to lift remaining restrictions in order to fill all outstanding development posts. [65768/25]
890. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the performance targets set by her Department for the HSE regarding recruitment timelines for both replacement vacancies and newly funded service development posts; the monthly metrics used to monitor progress toward these targets; the current national performance against each target; and the expected timeframe to eliminate the reported gap of 6,852 funded WTE pos…
945. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the public-health risk assessments completed since 1 January 2020 concerning communicable-disease risks among persons arriving into the State, including tuberculosis, measles, polio and hepatitis; and to provide the date of each assessment, the body or officer that carried out each assessment, the findings, the actions taken, and any guidance issued by her Departm…
593. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the date on which the Health Service Executive’s expert group completed its review of the implications of the Cass Review for Irish gender healthcare services, the date this report was submitted to the Chief Clinical Officer, the planned timeline for its publication or release, and the steps her Department is taking to ensure that the findings inform current servi…