275. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the total number of registrants on the Medical Council register, the number of new first-time registrants in each year, and the number and proportion employed in the Irish health service in each of those years, broken down by those who obtained their primary medical qualification in Ireland, in the EU and UK, and outside the EU and UK, respectively; the ana…
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 Pádraig O'Sullivan .
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1080. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she has reviewed the findings of the National Women's Council research report Beyond Availability: Women's Experiences of the Free Contraception Scheme, launched at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in April 2026, which found that nearly one in three women may experience barriers to accessing the scheme; the specific measures being develope…
1081. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the steps being taken to ensure that information about the free contraception scheme is made available in accessible formats for disabled women and in multilingual formats for migrant communities, particularly in Cork city and county which has a significant and growing migrant population; if her Department has engaged with community pharmacy networks in Co…
1082. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the current status of negotiations between her Department and manufacturers of the shingles vaccine, which she confirmed in February 2026 had been requested to enter into cost negotiations with the HSE; the timeline for when a proposal on a publicly funded shingles vaccination programme may be submitted to her Department for consideration given that the es…
1200. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that there are currently only 63 dedicated mental health beds for older people in Ireland, and that 454 beds will be required to meet recommended levels by 2030; the specific plan in place to increase acute mental health bed capacity for older adults; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37619/26]
1201. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the current implementation status of the 2019 Model of Care for Specialist Mental Health Services for Older People; the specific actions taken to date toward full implementation; to provide a definitive timeline for its completion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37620/26]
1202. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that as of 2020 only 66% of recommended older adult mental health teams existed and were staffed at just 54% capacity; the current figures for team numbers and staffing levels; the recruitment targets that have been set; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37621/26]
1203. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that almost one fifth of medical cardholders on the public counselling waiting list waited six months or more in 2024; the measures being taken to reduce these waiting times for older people specifically; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37622/26]
1209. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that 4,761 people were waiting for home support services in February 2025, primarily due to carer shortages; the current waiting list figure; the concrete measures being taken to address workforce shortages in home care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37650/26]
1210. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health when the Government will complete the development and implementation of a full statutory home support scheme; the current timeline for the system design, funding model and regulation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37651/26]
1211. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that delayed discharges caused over 145,000 lost bed days in 2025; the specific measures that are being put in place to reduce this figure; whether targets have been set for reduction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37652/26]
1212. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the reason no definitive completion timeline for Sláintecare has been provided, despite the framework being proposed for implementation in 2021; the milestones that have been met to date; when a clear delivery schedule will be published; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37653/26]
1213. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that malnutrition risk among older adults has increased by 59% since 2012, with ALONE recording a 34% rise in nutrition-related concerns in 2024; whether the Government will commit to the recommended €10 million investment in services (details supplied) and a national nutritional awareness campaign; and if she will make a statement on the m…
1214. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health given that loneliness is strongly associated with mental health difficulties and suicide risk among older people, when the Government will develop, fund and implement a national loneliness strategy; the Department that will hold responsibility for its delivery; the evaluation mechanisms that will be put in place to ensure accountability; and if she will ma…
1205. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will provide details on the number of pharmacy graduates registered with the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland in each of the past five years; if she will outline what analysis, if any, has been undertaken by her Department on the capacity of the Irish healthcare system to absorb the growing number of pharmacy graduates entering the workforce each y…
1206. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will provide details on the number of pharmacy technicians who have completed accredited training programmes in Ireland in each of the past three years; if her Department has assessed demand for pharmacy technician employment across community and hospital pharmacy settings in Ireland, particularly in light of the graduation of approximately 170 phar…
1207. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will outline the policy framework governing hospital pharmacy workforce planning in Ireland; if her Department has assessed current and projected demand for clinical pharmacists across acute hospital settings, including Cork University Hospital, which serves as a Level 3 paediatric cardiology centre for the Munster region; and if she will make a sta…
1208. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will provide a breakdown by county of the number of pharmacies currently participating in the Common Conditions Service; if she will specifically outline the uptake rate in County Cork; the steps that are being taken to maximise participation among pharmacies that have not yet joined the service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3517…
1209. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if her Department has reviewed the findings of previous annual medicine shortages surveys conducted by the Irish Pharmacy Union in collaboration with University College Cork; the specific measures have been taken to address medicine shortages that have been identified as placing additional workload on community pharmacists; if she will outline whether a na…
1210. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will provide an update on the timeline for the introduction of legislation to enable pharmacists to prescribe contraception under the free contraception scheme, given that the Heads of this Bill were approved in March 2026 and identified as priority legislation in the Government Summer 2026 Legislative Programme; what consultations have taken place …
1211. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will outline the projected number of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine administrations expected to be delivered through community pharmacy in 2026 under the new publicly funded service introduced under the Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025; the monitoring arrangements that are in place to evaluate uptake among eligible GMS cardholders over 65 year…
1212. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health in light of the recent HIQA recommendation to extend BowelScreen eligibility to those aged 50 to 54, the specific role community pharmacists are envisaged to play in supporting awareness, registration, and patient navigation within the expanded programme; the timeline for formalising this pharmacy involvement as committed to under the Community Pharmacy Ag…
1213. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will provide an update on the timeline for pharmacy software vendors to implement the system changes required before community pharmacies can avail of the new electronic record keeping provisions signed into law by her Department in April 2026, effective from 30 June 2026; whether her Department is actively engaging with vendors to prevent a gap bet…
1214. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the total funding claimed through the new Pharmacy Training Grant portal since it went live in March 2026; the number of pharmacy contractors who have submitted claims to date; whether her Department has assessed if the current grant levels are sufficient to meet the professional development needs of pharmacists, particularly in rural communities across Co…
1215. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if she will outline what steps her Department is taking to address the fact that brexpiprazole and lurasidone, two antipsychotic medicines now recommended as first-line treatment options for females with first-episode psychosis in the first international clinical guideline of its kind published in March 2026, are currently licensed in Ireland but not reimb…