Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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444. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated costs of ensuring adequate national capacity to deliver cardiac rehabilitation to all patients for whom it is recommended, ensuring that staffing and resources are protected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22174/25]

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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445. To ask the Minister for Health the plans that have been established to fund the implementation of the new cardiac rehabilitation model of care; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22175/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 444 and 445 together.

The Model of Care for Integrated Cardiac Rehabilitation, launched in October 2023, will ensure that patients living with cardiovascular disease across the country have equitable and timely access to high quality cardiac rehabilitation care, no matter where they live.

Recommendation 19 of the recently-published National Review of Cardiac Services (NRCS) sets out that all patients, following a cardiac event, or those diagnosed with HF, should be offered and have access to an appropriate CR programme. An implementation plan for the NRCS is currently being progressed by the HSE, with cardiac rehabilitation identified as an initial priority.

As part of the NRCS implementation prioritisation, funding has been provided through the HSE National Service Plan 2025 to support the project, Implementation and evaluation of the Model of Care for Integrated Cardiac Rehabilitation in two Integrated Health Area (IHA) regions in HSE West and North West. This project is a proof of concept of the implementation of the Model of Care for Integrated Cardiac Rehabilitation. It will address critical gaps in cardiac rehabilitation teams in two Integrated Health Areas (IHAs), IHA Galway-Roscommon and IHA Mayo, by recruiting additional posts, to convene complete integrated cardiac rehabilitation teams, and subsequently enabling these teams to deliver and evaluate an end-to-end implementation of the Model of Care. Thirteen new posts have been funded across four hospitals and three hubs in the region. These posts are currently in recruitment. Learnings will be shared across all six-health regions to inform future implementation.

The NRCS report provides the data and roadmap for a once-in-a-generation reform of cardiac services, and we are ambitious to progress this important work. The Minister has written to the HSE to begin developing an implementation plan by June 2025. Publication of the Review and the development of the implementation plan will be key facilitators of our new national cardiovascular strategy as promised in the Programme for Government. Any future development in cardiac rehabilitation services will be informed by the implementation plan of NRCS and subject to the usual estimates process. The recommendations of the review will inform the future provision of cardiac services nationally.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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446. To ask the Minister for Health the number of people referred to urgent symptomatic breast disease clinics and non-urgent symptomatic breast disease clinics by age group (women under age 30, 31-35, 36-40, 41-49, 50-59, 60+), including the waiting time period per age group in each specific clinic, in tabular form. [22179/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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447. To ask the Minister for Health the reasons for outsourcing public patients to private radiation therapy services each year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22180/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to improving cancer care, ensuring better prevention, maintaining improvements in cancer survival rates, and timely access to treatments including radiotherapy. The demand for radiotherapy services is increasing year-by-year in line with expectations identified by the National Cancer Registry of Ireland and the HSE National Cancer Control Programme.

Public radiotherapy centres out-source selected patients based on clinical indications to private radiotherapy facilities, in order to ensure their timely access to treatment. Around €10 million per year is spent on outsourcing radiotherapy appointments. This is in addition to the privately provided services in Limerick and Waterford which are contracted to deliver services on behalf of the HSE.

The HSE is working to enhance its radiotherapy capacity. A planned radiotherapy equipment replacement programme is in place and is working to update equipment across St. Luke's Radiation Oncology Network and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin as a priority. Additional measures to improve access include the clinical implementation of advanced radiotherapy technology and the implementation of national clinical guidelines on hypofractionation in all radiotherapy departments. Hypofractionation delivers a reduced number of treatments in a course of radiation therapy, reducing side effects for patients while maintaining treatment efficacy. These measures are used where clinically appropriate and help improve patient outcomes and throughput.