Parliamentary questions

510. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health if she will urgently address a matter (details supplied) and remove all charges for blister packs for the elderly; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68890/25]

511. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health her plans to expedite the delivery and full opening of the Killarney Community Nursing Home of 130 beds; the penalties which are in place for late delivery; the legal obstacles which remain to be surmounted; the person or body responsible to ensure its delivery; the person or body accountable for the debacle of 'have beds, can't open, (detai…

512. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health to urgently publish the overdue north Kerry CAMHS lookback review (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [68895/25]

513. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the approved whole-time equivalent staffing levels for Arbour House, St Finbarr’s Hospital, for each year 2023, 2024 and 2025, broken down by role, and the number of posts that remain unfilled in each year. [68907/25]

514. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average number of service users assigned to each addiction counsellor in Arbour House in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025. [68908/25]

515. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of service users waiting for an initial assessment in Arbour House who have been waiting more than 12 weeks, more than 24 weeks and more than 36 weeks. [68909/25]

516. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of approved 2024 HSE development posts that are currently filled by temporary staff and by agency staff, broken down by staff grade, and the reasons these figures were not included in the HSE’s reply to Parliamentary Question 59635/25. [68910/25]

517. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average length of time taken for an applicant for a 2024 HSE development post to complete the clearance process before being placed on payroll, the number of applicants currently in clearance for more than 3 months, 6 months and 12 months, and the operational reasons for these delays. [68911/25]

518. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the impact of the 2024–2025 HSE employment control measures on the staffing targets approved for 2024, the number of posts for which recruitment was paused or deferred as a result, and the expected timeline to lift remaining restrictions in order to fill all outstanding development posts. [68912/25]

519. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the performance targets set by her Department for the HSE regarding recruitment timelines for both replacement vacancies and newly funded service development posts, the monthly metrics used to monitor progress toward these targets, the current national performance against each target, and the expected timeframe to eliminate the reported gap of …

520. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has conducted any central review of the number of non-medical circumcisions undertaken in public hospitals in each of the years 2020 to 2025, whether the HSE has provided annual activity reports on this category of elective procedures, and if so when these reports were received. [68914/25]

521. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when her Department last received from the HSE a cost-impact analysis for elective procedures without medical indication, including non-medical circumcision, identifying total annual theatre time allocated to such procedures and the effect on paediatric surgery waiting lists. [68915/25]

522. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether a governance framework exists within her Department requiring clinical audit of elective procedures performed without medical indication; if so, what audit standards apply; and how compliance is monitored. [68916/25]

523. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the statutory or policy basis on which elective procedures without medical indication are authorised within the public hospital system; and if any legal advice has been sought on the permissibility of allocating public resources for such procedures. [68917/25]

524. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to publish the underlying actuarial modelling, market projections, and equality assessment used by the Health Insurance Authority in recommending the 2026 stamp-duty increases; and to detail the Department’s own evaluation of affordability risks for policyholders with low or modest incomes. [68918/25]

525. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted an impact study on the effect of increased stamp duty on private health insurance on hospitals that rely on privately insured patients for elective activity, including expected reductions in private-patient throughput. [68919/25]

526. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when the HSE will provide the full breakdown of approved whole-time equivalent posts and filled posts in Arbour House for 2023, 2024 and 2025; and to confirm whether staffing plans for 2024 and 2025 have been met or remain in deficit. [68920/25]

527. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current waiting-list management protocol for service users awaiting initial assessment in Arbour House; and the date on which her Department last reviewed performance against national timelines for addiction services. [68921/25]

528. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has instructed the HSE to provide monthly reports on 2024 development posts filled by temporary or agency staff; and the date on which these data will be supplied to the Oireachtas as requested. [68922/25]

529. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when she last met senior HSE officials regarding delays in pre-employment clearances for 2024 development posts, the specific actions now underway to shorten clearance timelines; and the monthly KPIs introduced to monitor improvements. [68923/25]

530. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of funded 2024 posts that remained unfilled as a direct result of the employment control measures applied in 2024 and 2025, the projected timeframe to lift remaining restrictions; and the expected date for full staffing against approved WTE levels. [68924/25]

531. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to publish the current national performance against all monthly recruitment KPIs for replacement vacancies and development posts, including the KPI governing the elimination of the 6,852 funded WTE staffing gap reported in September 2025; and to provide the Department’s expected timeline to close this gap. [68925/25]

532. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the projected total revenue in 2026 from the stamp-duty increase on health-insurance policies, as approved under the Risk Equalisation Scheme; and to provide the Department’s modelling of the expected impact on the Risk Equalisation Fund balance. [68927/25]

533. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department prepared any distributional analysis of the levy increase on households earning between €30,000 and €70,000, including the estimated annual cost per policyholder for adults and children used in internal decision-making. [68928/25]

534. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department conducted any assessment of the potential impact of higher levies on private hospital activity levels, including projected changes in insured patient volumes for 2026 and the expected financial effect on hospitals. [68929/25]