Parliamentary questions

972. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE maintains any centralised register categorising treatment abroad scheme approvals by clinical urgency, specialty, or procedure type; and if she will provide details. [36568/26]

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]

986. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Health Service Executive has identified any jurisdictions with materially higher reimbursement costs under the treatment abroad scheme for equivalent procedures. [36584/26]

987. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of medicines currently awaiting a commercial proposal from a marketing authorisation holder following an invitation by the HSE; the duration each application has remained at that stage; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36586/26]

988. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE maintains any internal monitoring system tracking delays attributable to marketing authorisation holders during the pricing and reimbursement process; and if so, to provide details. [36587/26]

989. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any assessment has been carried out regarding the impact on patient access arising from the absence of statutory or administrative deadlines for the submission of commercial proposals by marketing authorisation holders. [36588/26]

990. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether consideration has been given to introducing statutory or regulatory timeframes governing engagement by marketing authorisation holders once invited to submit a commercial proposal to the HSE. [36589/26]

991. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department or the HSE publishes, or intends to publish, anonymised data on delays in the pricing and reimbursement process attributable to marketing authorisation holders. [36590/26]

992. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any escalation mechanism exists where a pricing and reimbursement application remains inactive for an extended period due to the absence of a commercial proposal from a marketing authorisation holder. [36591/26]

993. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the absence of formal timelines for commercial engagement by marketing authorisation holders has been identified as a governance, transparency or patient-access risk within the medicines reimbursement system. [36592/26]

994. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any comparative review has been carried out examining how other EU jurisdictions manage delays by marketing authorisation holders during medicines pricing and reimbursement negotiations. [36593/26]

995. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of minors referred from Ireland to NHS Children and Young Person Gender Services in the United Kingdom in each year from 2020 to date in 2026, broken down by age and sex. [36600/26]

996. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total expenditure incurred under the treatment abroad scheme in relation to referrals of minors for gender-related assessment or treatment abroad in each year since 2020. [36601/26]