Parliamentary questions

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 ap…

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…

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 …

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 …

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 consultatio…

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 card…

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 C…

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 …

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 c…

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 I…

1216. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the structured role community pharmacies are envisaged to play in the promotion of organ donation awareness throughout the year, given that the clinical lead of Organ Donation Transplant Ireland (details supplied), has specifically identified Ireland's network of over 1,800 community pharmacies as a significantly underutilised asset in …

1217. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the reason that a supplement (details supplied) has not been made available under the drugs payment scheme; the actions necessary for this supplement to be made eligible for reimbursement under the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35192/26]

1218. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the date at which the final evaluation of the 18-month pilot phase of the supervised injecting facility in Dublin will commence; the timeline being worked towards in completing that final evaluation;; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35194/26]

1219. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on efforts to resolve the access road issue identified at St. Stephen’s Hospital, the proposed site of the elective hospital for Cork; if an agreeable route for a new access road has been identified and agreed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35195/26]

1220. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if a site has been chosen for a new Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) in the West North West Region; the date at which this service is expected to be operational; the proposed crewing arrangements at this new site; the services that will be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35196/26]

1221. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health with respect to the proposed new Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) in the West North West Region, if pilots and engineers have already been hired; if so, if these are internal or external appointments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35197/26]

1222. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE paediatric cardiologist registrars based at CHI Crumlin as of 6 May 2026, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35208/26]

1223. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health the bilateral meetings she has had with her EU counterparts in the past six months, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35209/26]

1224. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant respiratory medicine that are currently only treating and dealing with public patients at Tallaght University Hospital; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35210/26]

1225. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on home support waiting lists at end of March 2026; to provide a progress update on the development of the statutory home support scheme; to provide an update on the Sláintecare 2025+ commitment to finalise design and operational aspects of the operating model for home support services by the end of the year, in orde…

1226. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on the commitment in Sláintecare 2025+ to conduct an exercise to map Meals on Wheels and day centre provision against population, by year end, including development of a strategic approach to address identified gaps in provision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35222/26]

1227. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health the way in which implementation of the new AI in healthcare strategy, ‘AI for Care – The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy for Healthcare in Ireland’ will be monitored, evaluated and reported on; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35223/26]

1228. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Health the current number of dentists participating in the dental treatment services scheme in Offaly as of May 2026; the number of dentists who have joined the scheme in Offaly in each of the years 2024, 2025, and year to date 2026, the number of dentists who have exited the scheme during the same periods; and if she will make a statement on the…

1229. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of the number of dentists participating in the dental treatment services scheme in Offaly for each year from 2019 to 2025 inclusive and year to date 2026, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35263/26]

1230. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Health what assessment has been made of the impact of dentist participation rates in the dental treatment services scheme on medical card holders’ access to dental services in Offaly, including average waiting times for appointments and reported difficulties in securing treatment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35264/26]