Health Services Staff

2177. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the reason the HSE does not maintain a central cost comparator database for agency staffing expenditure. [43158/26]

2178. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the value-for-money implications of the HSE not maintaining a central database comparing agency staffing costs with directly employed staff costs. [43159/26]

2179. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the amount paid annually in agency fees, commissions and VAT associated with agency staffing in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026. [43160/26]

2180. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has any plans to establish a national agency workforce cost monitoring framework; and if so, the timeline for implementation. [43161/26]

2181. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the top 20 agency suppliers by expenditure in each of the years 2023, 2024 and 2025. [43162/26]

2245. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Health the number of consultant gastroenterologists working in the Public Health Services; her plans to expand this number; and the international recommended best practice ratio for consultant gastroenterologists to population and Ireland's ratio. [43353/26]

2275. Deputy Louis O'Hara asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1227 of 28 April 2026, if the HSE will issue a response; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43537/26]

2279. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE records the recruitment source from which successful consultant appointees were recruited; and if so, to provide the number and percentage of consultant appointments arising from each recruitment channel in 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026. [43566/26]

2280. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the total expenditure incurred on consultant recruitment advertising in each year from 2021 to 2025, broken down by publication, website, platform and recruitment channel. [43567/26]

2281. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any value-for-money review has been undertaken regarding consultant recruitment advertising expenditure; and if so, to provide copies or summaries of such reviews. [43568/26]

2282. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of consultant applicants, interviewees and appointees arising from advertisements placed in the British Medical Journal in each year from 2023 to 2026. [43569/26]

2283. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any analysis has been undertaken comparing the retention rates of consultants recruited through international recruitment campaigns with those recruited domestically. [43570/26]

2311. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any assessment has been undertaken of the impact of agency staffing restrictions on vacancy levels, service delivery, waiting lists or patient outcomes; and if she will provide copies of any such assessment. [43604/26]

2312. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health why the HSE does not centrally record vacancies arising from restrictions on agency staff recruitment despite operating a national agency reduction policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43605/26]

2313. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she is satisfied that the HSE can properly evaluate the effectiveness of its agency conversion programme when it does not record the number of vacancies attributable to agency recruitment restrictions. [43606/26]

2314. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national workforce risk assessment has been undertaken regarding the possibility that agency staffing restrictions may result in funded posts remaining unfilled. [43607/26]

2315. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide the vacancy rate by staff grade and health region for each month from January 2024 to date. [43608/26]

2316. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number and percentage of consultants employed in the public health service who have not transitioned to the public-only consultant contract as of the most recent date available, broken down by specialty, hospital group and HSE Health Region. [43609/26]

2317. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has undertaken any assessment of the reasons consultants have not transitioned to the public-only consultant contract; and if so, whether she will provide a summary of the findings. [43610/26]

2318. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the targets, if any, established by her Department for uptake of the public-only consultant contract in each year since its introduction; the extent to which those targets have been achieved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43611/26]

2319. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what evidence her Department has gathered regarding the impact of the public-only consultant contract on hospital overcrowding, emergency department waiting times and inpatient waiting lists since March 2023. [43612/26]

2320. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether an evaluation has been undertaken of the effectiveness of the public-only consultant contract as a mechanism to reduce trolley numbers and improve patient access to consultant-led care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43613/26]

2321. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the key performance indicators used by her Department to measure the success of the public-only consultant contract; the most recent performance against those indicators; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43614/26]

2326. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she is satisfied that the absence of formal national criteria governing the suspension or reassignment of healthcare professionals subject to criminal investigation for serious offences provides sufficient consistency and patient-safety assurance across all HSE regions. [43619/26]

2380. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health the budget allocated to project home; the specific strategies being taken to promote careers in the HSE to Irish graduates overseas; the countries being targeted; if any partnerships have been established with Irish diaspora organisations or overseas professional networks to support this initiative. [43843/26]