Parliamentary questions

327. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to state whether non-medically indicated circumcisions carried out in public hospitals are publicly funded, partially funded, or privately funded, and to provide the applicable charging structure and accounting treatment for such procedures. [66562/25]

328. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the criteria, oversight mechanisms, and clinical governance arrangements that apply when theatre time, anaesthetists, and surgical staff are allocated for procedures that are not clinically required, and to state how the use of theatre capacity for such procedures is assessed against the needs of patients on waiting lists for medically necessar…

329. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has carried out any assessment of the impact of providing non-medical circumcision procedures on surgical waiting lists, day-case capacity, or staffing resources in the public system, and to publish the findings of any such assessments. [66564/25]

330. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any guidance, circulars, or instructions have issued from her Department or the HSE regarding the provision of cultural or religious surgical procedures in public hospitals, and to place all such guidance in the Oireachtas Library. [66565/25]

331. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of theatre slots allocated in each of the past five years to circumcision procedures where there was no medical indication, broken down by hospital group and year. [66566/25]

332. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if she is satisfied that all procedures performed in public hospitals that are not clinically indicated are subject to proper oversight, transparency, and cost controls, and to outline what reforms are planned to ensure that theatre resources are prioritised for patients on clinically necessary waiting lists. [66567/25]

333. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason her Department and the HSE do not maintain a record of approved HSE posts that remain unfilled for more than six months; the mechanisms currently used to monitor persistent vacancies of this kind; the way in which her Department assesses the financial effect of these long-term vacancies on the Exchequer and the impact of such vacanci…

334. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to specify how her Department calculates the financial implications arising from HSE posts that remain unfilled for more than six months, including the projected savings, additional costs linked to overtime or agency staffing, and the effect on service capacity; and to outline whether a standard methodology is applied across HSE regions. [66569…

335. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health how her Department assesses the effect of long-term vacant posts on service delivery, including waiting lists, emergency department pressures and specialist care capacity; and to detail any measures she intends to introduce to ensure persistent vacancies are identified, monitored and addressed as part of the National Service Plan 2026. [66570/2…

336. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the policy and operational basis on which the HSE seeks the retrospective recovery of specialist qualification allowances from staff who received the allowance in good faith over an extended period, where the allowance had been approved and paid by management; to confirm whether a formal appeals or waiver process exists for such cases; to outli…

337. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if she will urgently review the decision to remove State reimbursement for blister pack medication services; if she is aware that this change will allow pharmacies to introduce private fees of up to €50 per person per month; if she will outline the measures the Department is taking to prevent adverse impacts on patients who rely on blister …

338. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the reason the National Ambulance Service is utilising private ambulance providers for patient transfers instead of offering staff within the intermediate care service overtime; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66621/25]

339. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health to respond to matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); the status of deliberations of the National Vaginal Mesh Implant Oversight Group's report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66622/25]

340. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if there are plans to address infrastructure constraints in Cork University Hospital's rheumatology department (details supplied); if so, the timeline for same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66623/25]

341. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 1707, 1708, 1709 and 1710 of 4 November 2025, if healthcare providers must indicate on prescriptions that they are for the management of the symptoms of menopause such that pharmacists may submit claims for those prescriptions under the free HRT scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66…

342. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health to clarify if a definition in the Health Insurance (Amendment) and Health (Provision of Menopause Products) Act 2024 excludes a group from the free HRT scheme (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66625/25]

343. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 211 of 22 October 2025, to confirm if the strategic workforce implementation group has been stood down; if a new strategic workforce advisory group has been established to work on a new report for the next phase of reform; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66626/25]

344. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Health the number of newly established vacancies in the intellectual disability service providers in the greater Dublin area in the past three years not including vacancies in existing placements which arise from deaths; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66638/25]

345. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Health the total number of residential placements on private providers throughout Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66639/25]

346. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Health if private care providers, operating public contacts are accountable to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66640/25]

347. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Health the number of placements provided and funded by CHO9, CHO7 and CH06, where service users have been placed outside of their own community/county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66641/25]

348. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Health her views on whether the economic model of the private sector is the determinant of where in Ireland residential services are established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66642/25]

349. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Health her views on whether moving service users to locations of more than 60km from their family home a breach of their human rights; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66643/25]

350. Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan asked the Minister for Health if she is satisfied that her Department is capturing unmet need data with regards to residential planning; if she considers parental age consideration alongside complexity of diagnosis as a planning tool; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66644/25]

351. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Health if non-specialist tobacco and vape retailers, such as barbers and phone shops, will be allowed to continue to sell vaping and tobacco products under the Department's proposed retail licensing system; and to outline the specific criteria for a retailer to obtain a licence under the new system. [66654/25]