Questions

1008. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the arrangements in place to ensure that patients whose outpatient appointments or procedures were cancelled due to industrial action since 30 September 2026 are rescheduled as a priority and are not placed at the back of waiting lists; the target timeframe for rescheduling such appointments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [74336/26]

781. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE provides hospitals in Cork with information materials on community stroke supports (details supplied); whether these organisations are included in discharge information or referral pathways for stroke patients; and the arrangements in place to ensure patients and families are made aware of available post-stroke supports before discharge. [71937/26]

782. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether there is a national HSE protocol requiring stroke patients to be provided, before discharge, with information on community and voluntary stroke supports (details supplied); whether patients are routinely offered referrals to such services; if not, the reasons for this; and if she will review arrangements to ensure patients and families receive information …

783. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department or the HSE have conducted a cost-benefit or economic impact assessment of funding specialist FASD support services; whether the potential costs to health, disability, education, social care, justice and other public services arising from unmet FASD needs were considered when determining 2026 funding; and if she will provide details of any su…

784. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the reduction in funding for an organisation's (details supplied) helpline was undertaken following an assessment of the potential impact on people living with FASD, their families and professionals; whether a national framework of support was in place before funding was reduced; the annual cost saving to the HSE whether her Department has assessed the wid…

794. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason HSE funding to the sexual health centre Cork increased from €480,000 in 2023 to €1.338 million in 2024; the specific programmes and services funded by this increase; whether funding was transferred for newly commissioned services; and if she will provide a breakdown of the total funding provided to the organisation in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. [71872/2…

797. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether a transgender patient must be accommodated in a ward, bedroom or bathroom corresponding to their gender identity where a patient of the opposite biological sex objects on grounds of privacy, dignity, previous sexual trauma or safeguarding; the national policy that governs such circumstances; and whether she will clarify which patient’s accommodation needs …

800. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether national standards or guidance apply to maternity services regarding language used by midwives and other staff when informing parents of the sex of their newborn; whether staff are advised to use gender-neutral terminology or discouraged from stating that a newborn is a boy or girl; and whether gender-inclusive healthcare guidance affects communication of …

811. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether each HSE-approved psychiatric centre has a written policy governing the allocation of wards, bedrooms and bathrooms to transgender patients; whether these policies must comply with the Mental Health Commission’s 2025 LGBTQIA+ guidance; and whether she will provide details of the national protocol governing cases where a transgender patient’s requested acco…

856. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether it is HSE policy to return children to a speech and language therapy waiting list following a single block of intervention where ongoing need has been identified at review; the average wait for a second block of therapy in the Cork North Lee primary care area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72297/26]

623. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the name and location of the specialist service to which Cork University Hospital melanoma surveillance patients have been transferred; whether those patients will continue to receive surveillance at the same frequency and with the same dermatoscopic or total body photography assessment as before; the date of their next scheduled review; and if she will make a sta…

656. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if she is aware that families in Cork have been informed that the Specialist Neurodevelopmental Pathway (SNAP) Ballincollig service is being discontinued and that children currently attending or awaiting assessment through SNAP are being referred back to their local CAMHS service, including North Lee; if this is the case, the reason for the decision; the date on w…

698. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current status of the Domino midwife led service at Cork University Maternity Hospital; whether the service has been suspended, curtailed or altered since June 2026; the number of women who availed of the service in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of women currently booked under the scheme with expected delivery dates in 2027…

699. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the average length of stay following a spontaneous vaginal birth at Cork University Maternity Hospital for women under the Domino scheme compared with women under standard consultant led care, in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025; the estimated cost of an inpatient postnatal bed night at CUMH; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [70593/26]

775. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 512 of 2 July 2026, to state whether she or the Health Service Executive has requested the Comptroller and Auditor General to conduct a value for money examination of the treatment abroad scheme; and to confirm by yes or no whether any post-operative complication, readmission or follow-up data in respect of procedures funded u…

781. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 506 of 2 July 2026, to confirm by yes or no whether any body other than the Health Service Executive has conducted a value for money or governance review of the treatment abroad scheme since 2020; and if no such review has taken place, to state this directly. [68557/26]

794. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 3875 and 3877 of 7 September 2026, to identify the HSE working groups, guideline development groups or advisory bodies on which ALCI is represented; the national guidelines to which it has contributed in the past five years; and whether declarations of interest were made and recorded by its representatives. [68693/26]

551. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of patients who were under skin cancer surveillance at Cork University Hospital at the time the service ceased; of that number, the number whose care was reviewed; the number transferred to another clinician; the number contacted directly in writing to inform them the service had ended; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [66528/26]

1154. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 745 of 14 July 2026, to confirm directly whether any such review, audit or costing has ever been carried out (details supplied); if not, whether one will now be commissioned; the total number of lipid profile tests processed nationally in the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available; the estimated cost of s…

1371. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to confirm, for each current resident of unit 1, that a suitable dementia-specific placement will be offered within their own community in Cork city; the number of dementia-specific residential beds currently available; the current waiting list for such beds, in the Cork city area; and the additional dementia capacity the HSE states has come onstream, including a…

1373. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the amount spent on community podiatry services in Cork city and county in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025, including any expenditure on outsourcing or private provision; the number of patients referred to private providers in each of those years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65421/26]

1374. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the arrangements in place to provide community podiatry to persons with disabilities and reduced mobility, including wheelchair users and persons with spinal cord injuries, who are unable to access mainstream clinic settings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65419/26]

1375. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the eligibility criteria for accessing HSE community podiatry services in Cork; whether those criteria have been changed or narrowed in the past three years; the categories of patient currently prioritised for treatment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [65418/26]

723. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 705 of 28 May 2026, whether the Department or the HSE can confirm definitively whether any minutes, file notes, or correspondence concerning the WPATH Standards of Care Version 7 decision exist; and if none exist, to confirm this explicitly. [52792/26]

724. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 704 of 28 May 2026, given that no formal audit or governance review was cited, whether the Department will commit to commissioning a retrospective governance assessment of the 2018 to 2019 approval process. [52793/26]