589. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department sought advice from the ESRI in relation to the projected distributional impact of increasing medical card income thresholds for persons aged 70 years and over by €10 per week in line with the 2025 State pension increase; whether a policy recommendation was made to her arising from that modelling exercise; and if she will make a statement on …
Parliamentary questions
Questions
TDs ask ministers questions to get answers on the record, most of them in writing. Here is every one asked in the 34th Dáil, by the department it went to and the subject heading it was filed under. How questions work
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590. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any consideration was given in Budget 2026 to adjusting medical card income thresholds for persons aged 70 years and over in line with pension increases; whether this option was costed by her Department; and if she will outline the policy rationale for maintaining existing thresholds. [15982/26]
591. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the number of persons aged 70 years and over whose income exceeds the Department of Social Protection State Pension by less than €20 per week and who are therefore at potential risk of medical card ineligibility under current thresholds; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15983/26]
592. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of External Governance Reviews undertaken pursuant to Sections 38 and 39 of the Health Act 2004 between 2022 and 2024 that identified material financial, governance, procurement, safeguarding or internal control deficiencies; the number in each year that resulted in enhanced monitoring arrangements, revised service level agreements, funding conditions o…
593. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of External Governance Reviews commenced between 2022 and 2024 that remain open; the average duration of review completion; and whether any review has resulted in referral to internal audit, external audit, or An Garda Síochána. [15985/26]
594. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether all non-statutory bodies in receipt of direct HSE funding, including those in receipt of less than €3 million annually, are subject to a structured governance review cycle; and if not, the criteria used to determine inclusion or exclusion. [15986/26]
595. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether summary findings of External Governance Reviews are published; and if not, the reasons for the absence of public transparency in respect of governance findings in publicly funded bodies. [15987/26]
596. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Health the total funding allocated in Budget 2026 for the provision of eating disorder services; the breakdown of this allocation, including funding for existing specialist eating disorder teams, funding for the development of new teams, funding for training and professional development of staff, and funding for inpatient and community-based services; the number of wh…
597. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of persons under 18 years-of-age admitted to adult approved psychiatric centres in 2025 for the treatment of eating disorders due to the unavailability of age-appropriate inpatient CAMHS beds; the average and longest duration of such admissions; whether the Department or the HSE has undertaken any review, audit, or impact assessment of the psycho-soc…
598. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of deaths recorded in 2024 and 2025 in which an eating disorder, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or other specified feeding or eating disorders, was listed as the primary or contributory cause of death; the source of this data; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15990/26]
599. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total number of apprentices employed by the Health Service Executive in 2025 and projected for 2026 in (a) social work, (b) social care work, and (c) dietetics; and if she will provide a breakdown by programme and year of intake. [16010/26]
600. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total gross expenditure incurred by the Health Service Executive in 2025 and the projected expenditure for 2026 in respect of apprenticeship programmes in social work, social care work, and dietetics, including salary costs, academic costs, employer PRSI, and any grant income received from the National Apprenticeship Office; and if she will provide a programme…
601. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has approved any workforce planning model or projection which quantifies the projected staffing shortfall to 2030 in social work, social care work, and dietetics; if so, to provide the projected shortfall figures by year; and how current apprenticeship intake levels align with those projections. [16012/26]
602. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any formal policy decision has been taken to fund apprenticeship expansion in the health and social care professions without a dedicated subhead or ring-fenced allocation within the Vote for the Health Service Executive; and the governance rationale for funding apprenticeship costs from within existing service budgets. [16013/26]
603. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any evaluation has been undertaken by her Department to assess the value-for-money and workforce impact of the Level 9 Social Work apprenticeship programme since its commencement; if so, to provide details of the methodology and findings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16014/26]
604. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide a current hospital-by-hospital list of all publicly funded chronic pain management services; to specify in respect of each hospital whether a dedicated multidisciplinary chronic pain service is in operation; to detail the disciplines available within each service, including pain medicine consultants, psychology, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and n…
605. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide, by HSE Health Region, the average waiting time and the longest waiting time for a first outpatient appointment in a publicly funded chronic pain service as of the most recent available date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16016/26]
606. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of patients, by Health Region, referred outside their region of residence in the past 24-months due to the absence of a local chronic pain service or insufficient local capacity; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16017/26]
607. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total number of approved consultant posts in the specialty of Pain Medicine and Consultant Anaesthesiologist with a special interest in Pain Medicine; the number currently filled on a whole-time equivalent basis; the number vacant; the duration of each vacancy; and the recruitment measures in place to address same. [16018/26]
608. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether all publicly funded chronic pain services operate in accordance with a nationally approved clinical model mandating multidisciplinary care; if not, to identify which services do not meet such standards; and the timeframe for compliance. [16019/26]
609. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether, following publication of the final Cass Review into gender identity services for children and young people in the United Kingdom, her Department conducted any formal policy review of the continued referral of minors from Ireland to NHS gender identity services under the Treatment Abroad Scheme; if so, to provide the date, terms of reference, and outcome o…
610. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department sought or obtained independent clinical advice, evidence appraisal, or risk assessment regarding the appropriateness of continuing referrals of minors to NHS gender identity services following the Cass Review; and if she will outline the governance framework under which such advice was considered. [16026/26]
611. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any revised safeguarding guidance, policy circular, or written direction has been issued by her Department to the HSE concerning referral pathways for children and young people to gender identity services abroad since publication of the Cass Review; and if she will provide details of any such direction. [16027/26]
613. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of minors referred from Ireland to NHS gender identity services under the Treatment Abroad Scheme in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the total expenditure incurred in each year; and the policy basis upon which such referrals continue to be authorised. [16029/26]
614. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the evaluation of the iPain Centre pilot at Beaumont Hospital has been completed; the date on which it was finalised; whether the evaluation has been submitted to her Department; whether she will publish the evaluation report in full; the total Sláintecare Integration Innovation Fund allocation provided to the project over its three-year pilot period; the …