Questions

260. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health when the next iteration of the Ireland's Future Health and Social Care Workforce planning model will be published; whether supply and demand projections will be extended in that iteration to cover dentists, radiographers, radiation therapists, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, dietitians, and social care workers, all of which were excluded f…

279. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the estimated cost to provide midwives, paediatric nurses, healthcare assistants and other relevant front-line staff to undertake the HSEL and breastfeeding module; and whether there are plans to expand uptake of this training nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38117/26]

282. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Health if Ireland has assessed the economic impact of untreated glaucoma and other vision problems across the population; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38149/26]

305. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Health her views on a patient with a history of osteoporosis who is faced with a wait of over a year for a publicly funded DEXA scan while being offered immediate access on payment of €100 (details supplied); whether this practice undermines the principle of care being provided on the basis of medical need rather than ability to pay; and the action she will take to ensu…

964. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal HSE operational manual, assessment framework, decision-support document, checklist, or staff guidance exists for officials administering the Treatment Abroad Scheme beyond the EU Regulations themselves; and if so, if copies will be provided. [36560/26]

965. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether officials administering the treatment abroad scheme are required to follow any standardised evidential criteria when assessing whether treatment is unavailable within the State or unavailable within a clinically appropriate timeframe. [36561/26]

966. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any audit, quality assurance, peer review, or consistency-review mechanism exists for treatment abroad scheme eligibility determinations; and if so, to provide details. [36562/26]

967. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any appeals, reconsideration, or secondary review process exists for applicants refused approval under the treatment abroad scheme; and if so, to provide details of the process and annual refusal figures since 2020. [36563/26]

968. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any category-specific governance arrangements apply to overseas referrals under the treatment abroad scheme involving gender-related healthcare interventions, including enhanced approval, audit, safeguarding, or specialist review requirements. [36564/26]

969. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of officials or clinical advisers currently involved in assessing treatment abroad scheme applications and whether any formal training programme or accreditation process applies to those making eligibility determinations. [36565/26]

970. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE maintains any central database recording the clinical category, destination country, expenditure, approval rationale, and outcome of treatment abroad scheme referrals; and if not, whether the absence of such data has been identified as a governance risk. [36566/26]

971. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any procedures funded under the treatment abroad scheme are classified internally by the HSE as elective, quality-of-life enhancing, cosmetic, experimental, or non-urgent; and if she will provide the classification framework used. [36567/26]

973. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any independent value-for-money review has ever been conducted specifically on the treatment abroad scheme; if so, to provide the dates and findings; and if not, why not. [36569/26]

974. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national consistency review is carried out to assess whether similar clinical cases receive similar treatment abroad scheme approval outcomes across different hospitals or consultants. [36570/26]

975. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department has assessed the governance implications of approving overseas procedures in the absence of a nationally agreed definition of "medical necessity". [36571/26]

976. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department intends to establish a national classification framework distinguishing medically necessary procedures from elective or quality-of-life procedures for public funding purposes. [36572/26]

977. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the treatment abroad scheme is subject to any formal fraud-risk assessment, expenditure-risk scoring, or internal audit programme specific to high-cost referrals. [36573/26]

978. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department or HSE has carried out any benchmarking comparing the cost of overseas treatments funded under the treatment abroad scheme against equivalent domestic provision or alternative care pathways. [36575/26]

979. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any external clinical advisory body or independent review panel exists for disputed or high-cost treatment abroad scheme applications. [36576/26]

980. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE or her Department maintains any database, framework, or internal assessment comparing the average cost of treatments funded under the treatment abroad scheme across different jurisdictions. [36578/26]

981. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any analysis has been carried out on whether equivalent procedures funded under the treatment abroad scheme could be accessed at lower cost in alternative jurisdictions within the EU, UK or Switzerland. [36579/26]

982. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any formal value-for-money methodology applies when approving treatment locations under the treatment abroad scheme. [36580/26]

983. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Health Service Executive records the total reimbursement cost by treatment type and jurisdiction under the treatment abroad scheme. [36581/26]

984. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal audit, financial review, or governance assessment has examined variations in treatment abroad scheme reimbursement costs between jurisdictions for comparable procedures. [36582/26]

985. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any maximum reimbursement thresholds, indicative cost bands, or comparative pricing references are used when assessing applications under the Treatment Abroad Scheme. [36583/26]