Parliamentary questions

997. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason no resource utilisation group or case-mix pricing model has been introduced for long-term residential care, despite explicit recommendations and international precedent; and whether her Department has set a definitive implementation deadline. [9300/26]

998. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the international models of dependency-based nursing home funding have been examined by her Department; which were deemed suitable for Ireland; and why none have been adopted. [9301/26]

999. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when a National Safe Staffing and Skill Mix Framework for nursing homes will be finalised; to provide the date the pilot commenced; the number of pilot sites;the reason the framework remains in pilot stage several years after acceptance.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9302/26]

1000. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any funding uplift has been provided to voluntary nursing homes to meet the staffing expectations emerging from safe staffing pilots; and if not, how providers are expected to absorb rising staffing costs. [9303/26]

1001. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that voluntary nursing homes are being held to rising regulatory and clinical standards without any binding national staffing ratios or corresponding funding. [9304/26]

1002. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average weekly cost per resident in public nursing homes compared with NHSS-funded voluntary and private homes; and whether she accepts that public units frequently operate above NHSS price ceilings. [9305/26]

1004. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when the Department last published a full variance analysis of actual public nursing home costs against NHSS ceilings, as recommended in the value for money review; and to provide the most recent data. [9307/26]

1008. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health which recommendations from the independent review examining the role of voluntary organisations in publicly funded health and social care, published in 2019, have been implemented to date; and to provide timelines for those outstanding.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9311/26]

1009. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason no multi-annual funding framework has been introduced for voluntary healthcare providers despite explicit recommendations; and whether she accepts that this undermines workforce planning and financial sustainability. [9312/26]

1010. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has established the formal partnership model with voluntary providers promised in the 2019 review; and if not, the reason that commitment has not been honoured. [9313/26]

1011. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has quantified the administrative and compliance burden imposed on voluntary nursing homes in recent years; whether any funding has been provided to offset these additional requirements. [9314/26]

1012. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that increasing reporting, compliance and governance obligations have not been matched by increased frontline funding for voluntary providers. [9315/26]

1017. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she was advised, at any point between 2020 and 2025, that there was no Department of Health or HSE policy governing the collection, verification, or publication of data relating to gender identity services for children and young people; the dates on which any such advice was provided; the officials or offices that provided that advice;…

1018. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department conducted or commissioned any formal governance, risk, or child safeguarding assessment addressing the absence of routine data collection, outcome monitoring, or longitudinal follow-up in paediatric gender identity services prior to approving or revising policy or models of care since 2020; and if not, to outline the rat…

1019. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the steps being taken to ensure urgent access to a treatment where clinicians advise that delay risks irreversible loss of neurological and functional ability (details supplied); if compassionate or exceptional access mechanisms are available while national reimbursement processes are ongoing; the safeguards currently in place to protect such…

1020. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department receives, holds, or reviews data relating to the total annual revenue generated from car parking charges at Cork University Hospital; and if so, to provide the figures available to her Department for each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9344/26]

1021. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any policy guidance, circulars, or directions to the HSE regarding the permitted or intended use of revenue generated from hospital car parking charges; and if so, to outline the expenditure categories to which such revenue may be applied, including maintenance, staffing, capital works, or payments to third-pa…

1022. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance, reporting, and oversight arrangements in place, by which her Department assures itself that revenue generated from hospital car parking charges is properly accounted for, audited, and used in accordance with public financial procedures; and to outline the specific mechanisms by which such assurance is obtained in respect of Cor…

1023. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the current status of the Programme for Government commitments relating to hospital car parking charges, including daily caps and flexible or reduced-rate parking arrangements; to specify which commitments have been implemented to date; which remain outstanding; the reasons for any delay; and the expected timeline for delivery of ou…

1024. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken, commissioned, or relied upon any assessment, review, or analysis of the impact of hospital car parking charges on patients and families attending large regional hospitals with extensive catchment areas, including Cork University Hospital; and if so, to provide details of such assessments and their finding…

1025. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the process by which her Department reviews, updates, or revises its standard responses to parliamentary questions on hospital car parking policy; and to state whether any substantive policy or administrative changes have occurred since January 2024 that would warrant updated guidance or revised responses; and if she will make a sta…

1026. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total number of residential properties currently owned by the Health Service Executive which are vacant; the number deemed surplus to requirements; the length of time each property has been vacant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9367/26]

1027. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the policy framework governing the retention, disposal, or repurposing of vacant residential properties owned by the Health Service Executive; when this policy was last reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9368/26]

1028. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what formal engagement has taken place between his Department, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Land Development Agency regarding the potential transfer or reuse of vacant HSE-owned residential properties for housing purposes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9369/26]

1029. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to identify the principal legal, financial, or administrative barriers preventing the timely reuse or disposal of vacant residential properties owned by the Health Service Executive; the steps being taken to address these barriers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9370/26]