Parliamentary questions

1097. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Health whether the broader clinical, public health and hospital capacity impacts of RSV infection in infants have been fully considered in any review of the RSV immunisation programme; the measures that are currently in place or planned to protect vulnerable infants from RSV; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34557/26]

1098. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Health to provide the number of infants diagnosed with RSV, the number of related GP presentations, emergency department presentations, hospital admissions, intensive care admissions, the associated mortality data, reported through appropriate national or HSE data systems, in each of the years from 2020 to date in 2026, in tabular form; and if she…

1099. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Health why dyslexic assessment of children in Ireland is solely carried out by educational psychologists, when current wait for a dyslexic assessment is reported to be around eighteen months, Dublin College University has a course to train teachers to assess dyslexia, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's 2025 'Diaspora Strategy' aimed…

1100. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health the provisions that are being put in place to protect vulnerable populations for heat related health risks resulting from heatwaves and climate change; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34571/26]

1101. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health the amount spent on purchasing new resources and/or equipment for the National Neurosurgical Centre at Beaumont Hospital in the years of 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, in tabular form. [34577/26]

1102. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health the last date an external in-person fire safety audit was carried out at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown; and when is the next external in-person fire safety audit scheduled to take place. [34578/26]

1103. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE qualified intensive care nurses posts filled at CHI Temple Street as of 5 May 2026, in tabular form. [34579/26]

1104. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health the estimated full year costs to increase the number of Crisis Resolution Teams within the HSE to 10. [34580/26]

1105. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health whether the pre-termination counselling protocols mandated under the 2018 Act require the provision of evidence-based information on foetal development at each stage of gestation up to 12 weeks, the physical and psychological risks of the procedure, and details of non-directive support services including adoption and financial assistance for c…

1106. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the number of women who have had two or more terminations of pregnancy notified under the 2018 Act since 1 January 2019, by year and by whether the repeat procedure occurred within 12 months of the previous one; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34615/26]

1107. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the number of terminations carried out after 12 weeks' gestation on the ground that there is a condition likely to lead to the death of the foetus before or within 28-days of birth in each year since 2019, by specific condition; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34616/26]

1108. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the number of women who received a termination of pregnancy under the 2018 Act and who were subsequently referred for dedicated post-termination mental health or counselling support through the HSE in each year since 2019; the uptake rate of such referrals; and whether any follow-up audit has been conducted on long-term outcomes; and if she wi…

1109. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the total Exchequer funding allocated specifically to the provision of termination of pregnancy services (broken down between community/GP settings and hospital settings) in each year since 2019 to date; and to compare this with the annual funding provided to crisis pregnancy support agencies and adoption services in the same period; and if sh…

1110. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health whether any audits or compliance checks have been carried out on the accuracy and completeness of notifications submitted under section 20 of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; the findings of any such audits; and the number of instances, if any, where sanctions were applied for non-compliance [34619/26]

1111. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which the HSE or HSE-funded clinics have engaged in the advertising or promotion of termination of pregnancy services since 2019, including details of any public campaigns, their cost, targeting methods and content; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34620/26]

1112. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health the assessment, if any, that has been made of the impact of the rollout of termination of pregnancy services on the capacity, staffing levels and reported morale within maternity and obstetric units in public hospitals; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34621/26]

1113. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health for an update on the implementation status of any recommendations from the independent review of the 2018 Act that specifically relate to strengthening safeguards for women, improving data collection on repeat procedures or coercion, or enhancing non-directive counselling; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34622/26]

1114. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health the reason the National Ambulance Service (NAS) has failed to implement the recommendations of the 2020 independent Roles and Responsibilities Review, which proposed enhanced salary scales to reflect the increased clinical workload and responsibilities of paramedics; if she will acknowledge that this failure is the primary driver of the s…

1115. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that staff representatives assert the core paramedic salary scales have not been updated to reflect the evolution of the profession in 18 years, despite the role moving to a degree-level clinical grade; the reason her Department has not finalised the proposed 3% to 14% pay modernisation increases that were brokered to addr…

1116. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health the reason the National Ambulance Service is estimated to be short by 2,000 to 2,500 paramedics of its own 2026 workforce target; her views on whether the current uncompetitive pay structure is preventing the recruitment and retention needed to hit these targets; if she will provide a value-for-money justification for the record €27.4 bil…

1117. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health the reason the HSE and NAS management have insisted that pay modernisation increases be phased in over a multi-year period while demanding immediate productivity changes, a position which led to a 69% rejection of the latest pay deal by NAS members in February 2026; the immediate steps she is taking to prevent further strikes scheduled fo…

1118. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health the total number of whole-time equivalent (WTE) paramedics and advanced paramedics currently employed by the National Ambulance Service (NAS), of that total, the number that are currently assigned to non-operational roles, such as management, administration, clinical auditing, or office-based training positions, and are therefore not avai…

1119. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health to clarify if the "record recruitment" figures frequently cited by her Department include paramedics who have been seconded to office-based or headquarters roles; if she will provide a separate breakdown of the number of paramedics available for active rostered shifts in County Clare for each month in 2025 and 2026 to date; and if she wil…

1120. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health the reason there has been a reported increase in the number of 'clinical support officer' and administrative positions within the NAS while frontline stations like Kilrush continue to report dropped shifts due to a lack of available paramedics; if she will commit to a "frontline-first" policy to ensure that qualified staff are not being d…

1121. Deputy Donna McGettigan asked the Minister for Health the total number of management and supervisory roles within the National Ambulance Service created since 2020; the number of these roles filled by qualified paramedics who previously worked on the frontline; if an assessment has been made on the impact this 'internal brain drain' is having on ambulance response times in rural areas like W…