Questions

845. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Health the specific measures she intends to introduce to ensure that specialist posts in maternity, midwifery, and perinatal mental health services are not left vacant for prolonged periods. [72254/26]

846. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health the details of the number of home help provision hours approved by the HSE and left unmet due to staff shortages in 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026, by region in County Kerry. [72257/26]

847. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 913 of 14 July 2026, to provide the updated spend on outsourcing arrangements in University Hospital Galway to address laboratory backlogs to date in 2026. [72260/26]

848. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health to confirm that a service level agreement between a private hospital and a public hospital for the provision of laboratory services has ceased (details supplied); the date at which it ceased; and to confirm that this public laboratory is not longer accepting samples from private providers. [72261/26]

849. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health to provide further details regarding the funding shortfall in the National Orthopaedic Hospital; the exact figure identified; the funding sought by the hospital to address this shortfall; and the status of talks between the hospital and the region to address this matter. [72263/26]

850. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if any further patients of Children's Health Ireland have undergone spinal surgeries abroad through outsourcing arrangements (details supplied); and to provide a total by year and country. [72264/26]

851. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the way in which inherited capital is assessed for medical card purposes in the case of an adult with a lifelong disability; if the HSE has discretion to retain a medical card where loss of eligibility would cause undue hardship given the person's ongoing medical needs; the number of such discretionary cards granted in 2025; and if she will make a statement on the…

852. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if consideration has been given to granting medical card eligibility to persons with a lifelong disability on the basis of medical need rather than means; the number of persons with a lifelong disability who lost a medical card in each of the years 2020 to 2025 following the assessment of inherited capital, if this data is recorded; if not, the reason; and if she …

853. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of persons aged 70 and over who lost eligibility for a full medical card on review in each of the years 2021 to 2025 and to date in 2026; the number of these cases where an increase in social welfare or occupational pension income was the reason for loss of eligibility; the number estimated to lose eligibility in 2027 following the pension increases ann…

854. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason the gross weekly income limits for the over 70s medical card, which have remained at €550 for a single person and €1,050 for a couple since 1 November 2020, were not increased in budget 2027; the estimated cost of increasing the limits in line with the cumulative increase in the maximum rate of the State Pension (Contributory) since 2020; and if she wil…

855. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent speech and language therapist posts approved, filled and vacant in primary care in HSE south-west as of the latest date for which figures are available, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72298/26]

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]

857. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of children awaiting speech and language therapy in HSE south-west, broken down by those awaiting initial assessment, initial therapy and further therapy, and by waiting time bands of 0 to 3, 3 to 6, 6 to 12, 12 to 24 and over 24 months, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [72296/26]

858. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the case-specific information available to a person seeking an update on an outstanding Cross-Border Directive reimbursement application; if applicants will be informed of the stage their application has reached, whether it has been assessed as complete or whether further information or review is required and an indicative timeframe for reimbursement; and if she …

859. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health if Cross-Border Directive reimbursement applications continue to be processed in the order in which they are received; if there are circumstances in which a completed application received at a later date may be processed and reimbursed before an earlier completed application; if so, to outline those circumstances; and the reason the completed applications submitt…

860. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of completed Cross-Border Directive reimbursement applications currently awaiting payment; the date of receipt of the oldest outstanding completed application; the current average and median processing time; and the number of applications outstanding for more than 30, 60, 90, 120 and 180 working days respectively. [72292/26]

861. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if CHI maintains a chronological waiting list for children awaiting follow-up appointments; if administrative and business management staff have access to information showing the length of time each child has been waiting and their expected timeframe for review; and, if not, the way in which CHI ensures that children requiring follow-up do not fall through gaps i…

862. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the number of children currently awaiting a follow-up outpatient appointment who have exceeded the clinically recommended timeframe for review, by CHI hospital site and specialty; the details of the standard operating procedures, policies or clinical governance arrangements in place within CHI for scheduling and monitoring follow-up appointments; and the way in w…

863. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if she is satisfied that the CHI scoping inquiry process was appropriately balanced between the voices of children and families whose care is to be investigated and the clinicians, management and organisations whose actions may themselves fall within the scope of that investigation. [72285/26]

864. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if she is satisfied that children and families were genuinely at the centre of the scoping exercise in to the CHI inquiry when the final report identifies only two individual parents of children with scoliosis who spoke directly with the facilitator; and to provide the evidence on which she bases that view. [72284/26]

865. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the reason the final report into the proposed public inquiry into CHI provides extensive detail on the engagement, correspondence and concerns of SAN and SBHPAG, while providing significantly less detail on the nature and extent of engagement with other stakeholder groups; and if she is satisfied that the report presents stakeholder participation in a balanced an…

866. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health in relation to the proposed inquiry in to CHI to explain precisely what is meant by the statement that "most clinicians and staff" preferred a commission of investigation, including the number consulted, the number supporting a commission and the number supporting a tribunal. [72282/26]

867. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health the number of individual parents who engaged directly with the facilitator (details supplied), broken down between scoliosis and spina bifida; and the number of affected children and young people who were directly consulted. [72281/26]

868. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health of the five clinicians who met the facilitator (details supplied), the specialties of each, the hospitals and-or sites each clinician represented, and whether any had direct involvement in the services or matters subsequently recommended for investigation. [72280/26]

869. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if the HSE will provide supports to a person (details supplied). [72313/26]