Questions

2147. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health whether standards or service-level targets exist for her Department or bodies under the aegis of her Department, in responding to correspondence from members of local authorities; if compliance with such standards is monitored; the reasons for delays or failures to respond to correspondence from elected members; and the measures being taken to ensure more consis…

2148. Deputy Micheál Carrigy asked the Minister for Health the current waiting times for children awaiting an occupational therapy assessment in County Longford; the number of children currently on the waiting list; the average and longest waiting time for an assessment; the number of whole-time equivalent occupational therapists assigned to children’s disability services in Longford; and the measures being taken to …

2149. Deputy Micheál Carrigy asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an occupational therapy assessment for a child (details supplied) in County Longford who has been waiting over a year for an assessment; their current position on the waiting list; if a timeline can now be provided for assessment given that the child is due to commence post-primary education in September; and if the Minister will engage…

2150. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health if a certificate of interest from a financial institution of all accounts be accepted and taken into consideration when assessing over 70s for a medical card instead of an assessment (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74285/25]

2151. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Health to provide an update on the HSE’s plans for the expansion of the Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV) schools programme in 2026; the measures that will be taken to increase uptake and encourage schools at primary and secondary level to opt in; whether the HSE has considered deploying school-based HSE vaccination teams to deliver the programme; and if she w…

2152. Deputy Catherine Ardagh asked the Minister for Health the details of the current waiting times for children requiring an MRI under general anaesthesia in Ireland; the measures being taken to reduce these waiting times; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74293/25]

2153. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of older persons awaiting a home help package in Kerry, by area and by length of time, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74294/25]

2154. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Health the number of patients on a list (details supplied), in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74319/25]

2155. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Health the number of adults waiting on a first-time appointment with a neurologist; the length of time they are waiting, by each HSE area, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74359/25]

2156. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Health the number of children waiting on a first time appointment with a neurologist, the length of time they are waiting, by each HSE area, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74360/25]

2157. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Health the number of neurological staff vacancies there are within the HSE and the area they are in, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74361/25]

2158. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health her plans to include relugolix in the drugs payment scheme; and if so, the timeline for same. [74370/25]

2159. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Health if CORU will bring the athletic rehab therapy sector under its regulatory remit. [74384/25]

2160. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health to reassure the Iveragh Hospice Branch in County Kerry and the residents of Iveragh, that hospice beds in St. Anne's Hospital, Cahersiveen will not be closed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74386/25]

2161. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the national datasets her Department requires for governance, planning, financial control, and performance oversight of all services funded under the health vote, for each dataset, whether it is currently fully operational, partially operational, or not in place; the legislative, policy, or administrative basis on which each dataset is required; and the timeline …

2162. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has approved a national set of key performance indicators for monitoring recruitment activity, vacancy levels, clearance timelines, and the delivery of development posts across services funded under the Health Vote; if so, to list those KPIs and the date on which they were approved; if not, to state the reason such KPIs have not been approved, g…

2163. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the controls used by her Department to oversee the staffing and pay envelope funded under the Health Vote pending the full rollout of the national integrated staff records and pay system; the proportion of the HSE workforce currently covered by that system; the projected completion date for national rollout; and whether her Department has identified any financial…

2164. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department estimates the annual cost to the Health Vote arising from delayed transfers of care linked to housing shortages; the methodology used by her Department to calculate bed-day costs associated with delayed discharges; if such costs are reported to her Department on a routine basis; and the date by which she intends to introduce regular national cos…

2165. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance and policy framework approved by her Department for gender identity services for children and young people; the date of the most recent Departmental review of that framework; the role of her Department in setting safeguarding and clinical governance standards for these services; and how compliance with those standards is monitored at national level…

2166. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the national datasets her Department requires for planning, oversight, and safeguarding of gender identity services for minors, including referral volumes, diagnostic profiles, and treatment pathways; which of those datasets are not currently in place; and the timeline for establishing a national dataset aligned with evidence-based clinical governance standards. …

2167. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health her Department’s policy for evaluating international clinical guidance prior to alignment with national healthcare frameworks; the assessments carried out by her Department on the WPATH Standards of Care between 2018 and 2023; and the timeline for completing a formal review of those standards in light of the Cass Review. [74398/25]

2168. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the national reporting requirements approved by her Department for waiting times in publicly funded addiction services; the reason a comprehensive national waiting-time dataset is not currently available; and the timeline for introducing full national reporting of assessment and treatment waiting times. [74399/25]

2169. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has adopted any population-based workforce planning benchmark or consultant-to-patient ratio for the provision of chronic pain services; if so, to specify the benchmark applied; and if not, to explain how the adequacy of current consultant capacity is assessed for governance and service planning purposes. [74400/25]

2170. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average waiting time, by hospital group, for a first outpatient assessment in publicly funded chronic pain services at the end of Q4 2025; the longest waiting time recorded nationally; and the number of patients waiting longer than six months and longer than twelve months for an initial appointment. [74401/25]

2171. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the proportion of patients diagnosed with chronic pain who are managed without access to a specialist consultant-led pain service due to capacity constraints; and the assessment her Department has made of the clinical, social, and economic impacts of managing chronic pain outside specialist services. [74402/25]