Parliamentary questions

1159. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department or the HSE has conducted any mapping exercise since 2020 identifying which publicly funded health-related bodies are subject to the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, the Charities Governance Code, service-level agreements, or alternative governance frameworks; and if so, to provide details. [38921/26]

1160. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any publicly funded health-sector bodies classified by the Central Statistics Office as public bodies are legally independent companies limited by guarantee; the number identified; and the aggregate level of State funding provided to such bodies in each year since 2020. [38922/26]

1161. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department has conducted any governance risk assessment regarding publicly funded bodies that are legally independent of the State but depend primarily on Exchequer funding; and if so, to provide details. [38923/26]

1162. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health which specific body or office holds ultimate responsibility for approving, setting, reviewing, and enforcing national ambulance dispatch standards in Ireland. [38924/26]

1163. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Priority Dispatch Standard published by the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council contains defined maximum permissible time thresholds for emergency call handling, triage, dispatch allocation, or mobilisation; and if so, to provide details. [38925/26]

1164. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the September 2025 review of the Priority Dispatch Standard identified any recommendations, deficiencies, operational concerns, governance gaps, or patient safety risks relating to ambulance dispatch practices; and if so, to provide details. [38926/26]

1165. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any formal audit, external review, internal review, incident analysis, or governance assessment of ambulance dispatch delays has been conducted by the HSE, National Ambulance Service, HIQA, PHECC, or any external body since 2020; and if so, to provide details, including dates and findings. [38927/26]

1166. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the absence of defined national maximum ambulance dispatch-time thresholds has been recorded on any HSE, National Ambulance Service, Department of Health, or associated risk register since 2020; and if so, to provide the risk category, current status, and mitigation measures. [38928/26]

1167. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost of introducing free MART (ICS-formoterol) inhalers for children aged 12-17 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38931/26]

1168. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Health if she will consider introducing free MART (ICS-formoterol) inhalers for children aged 12-17 years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38932/26]

1169. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health if the HSE is considering funding the use of 'focal therapy' for the treatment of prostate cancer; the timeline for a decision on this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38934/26]

1170. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health if measures have been put in place to prevent persons entering the State who are travelling directly or indirectly from the Congo and other countries impacted by the current Ebola outbreak; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38941/26]

1171. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the contingency measures in place at Irish ports and airports to screen for potential imported cases of the Bundibugyo Ebola strain from the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Uganda, in light of the confirmed cross-border spread and the PHEIC declaration; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38944/26]

1172. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the specific advice that has been issued to the public and healthcare professionals regarding travel to or from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, following the WHO’s determination of the Ebola outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38946/26]

1173. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health if Ireland’s national pandemic and infectious disease preparedness plans have been reviewed in light of the recent Ebola outbreak which lacks a specific licensed vaccine; the lessons from previous Ebola responses that are being applied; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38949/26]

1174. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the current stock of personal protective equipment and any Ebola-specific medical countermeasures held in Ireland’s strategic national reserve; whether additional procurement is planned in response to the declared international health emergency in central Africa; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38952/26]

1175. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the current waiting list numbers for scoliosis treatment and spinal surgery for children in the midlands; the average wait time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38970/26]

1176. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Health if advice will issue to a person (details supplied) in relation to a matter regarding HSE staff who continue to have health issues post-Covid infection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38981/26]

1177. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health the steps a person (details supplied) can take and the steps she will take to ensure they can access the surgery they require as quickly as possible; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38983/26]

1178. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health the number of patients currently awaiting a first outpatient ophthalmology appointment at St. Conal’s Hospital, Letterkenny; the number awaiting follow-up ophthalmology appointments; the length of time patients have been waiting, by waiting time bands, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38984/26]

1179. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health the reason ophthalmology waiting lists at St. Conal’s Hospital, Letterkenny are not published through the National Treatment Purchase Fund waiting list system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38985/26]

1180. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the specific evidence of Hantavirus risk in Ireland that prompted its addition as a notifiable disease under the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38986/26]

1181. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost to the HSE and public health system of adding Hantavirus to the list of notifiable diseases, including training, laboratory testing, contact tracing and potential isolation measures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38987/26]

1182. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health if the inclusion of updated references to Covid-19 variants and influenza in the 2026 Regulations indicates any planned reintroduction of enhanced surveillance, testing or public health restrictions for respiratory viruses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38988/26]

1183. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the circumstances in which a person diagnosed with Hantavirus could be subject to detention or isolation under the amended regulations; the safeguards in place to protect the rights of the individual and the appeal mechanisms available; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38989/26]