Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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2905. To ask the Minister for Health the annual cost to the health service of treating urinary tract infections in women, including GP visits, emergency presentations, hospital admissions and prescription medications; and to provide a cost breakdown by age cohort, in tabular form. [42594/25]

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 to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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2906. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost to the HSE of managing repeat or chronic urinary tract infections in women; if any cost-benefit analysis has been undertaken to assess the savings from preventive care or early intervention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42595/25]

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 to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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2907. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospitalisations due to urinary tract infections in women in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and the associated cost to the public health system, in each year. [42596/25]

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 to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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2908. To ask the Minister for Health the number of deaths in women in each of the past five years where urinary tract infection (UTI) was listed as a primary or contributory cause of death, in tabular form; and her views on mortality trends linked to untreated or recurrent UTIs. [42597/25]

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 to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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2909. To ask the Minister for Health the number of women over 65 who died as a result of urosepsis or complications arising from urinary tract infections in the past five years, in tabular form; if these deaths were reviewed under clinical audit or HIQA processes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42598/25]

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 to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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2910. To ask the Minister for Health if the HSE has developed a standardised care pathway for recurrent urinary tract infections in women, particularly for older adults; if this includes specific outcome improvement measures; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42599/25]

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 to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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2911. To ask the Minister for Health if she will provide data on the use of antibiotics for Urinary tract infection treatment in women in Ireland; if any research has been undertaken or commissioned by her Department or the HSE in respect of repeat prescribing (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42600/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) reports data on consumption of all antimicrobials across the hospital and community setting in Ireland. Although this data does not refer specifically to UTIs, it includes antibiotics that are used for treatment and prophylaxis of UTIs in women and can be accessed on the HPSC website.

HSE national antimicrobial prescribing guidelines for community prescribers for the treatment and prophylaxis of urinary tract infection is available on www.antibioticprescribing.ie. An audit tool has been developed by the HSE AMRIC team to support local audit of antimicrobial prescribing for urinary tract infection prophylaxis in community settings.

There is evidence that longer duration and multiple courses of antibiotics for UTI is associated with greater odds of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and that antibiotic resistance is higher in some patients receiving antibiotic UTI prophylaxis. HSE AMRIC are not currently undertaking any research in respect of repeat prescribing for urinary tract infections in women.

In 2021, HIQA completed an analysis of additional cost associated with resistant infections, Economic Burden of AMR (www.hiqa.ie/reports-and-publications/health-technology-assessment/economic-burden-antimicrobial-resistance). It was noted that the financial cost of treating resistant infections places a significant burden on society, as patients infected with drug-resistant micro-organisms are more likely to remain in hospital for a longer period of time, to have poorer outcomes and to be unable to work.

It is acknowledged that AMR poses a significant threat to patient safety and public health. The European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) includes AMR in its top three priority health threats and it is one of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) top ten global public health threats.

Ireland has taken several significant steps to tackle AMR using a holistic One Health Approach, in line with international best practice. Officials in the Department of Health have worked closely with colleagues in the animal health and environment sectors to agree national policy on AMR since the National Interdepartmental AMR Consultative Committee was established in 2014.

Our National Action Plans on AMR provide the roadmap to help tackle this issue. Our third national action plan on AMR is currently under development and an extensive stakeholder engagement process has been undertaken to inform it. As part of this work, the Department recently ran a public consultation on the development of the next plan.

Notes:

HPSC: www.hpsc.ie/a-z/microbiologyantimicrobialresistance/europeansurveillanceofantimicrobialconsumptionesac/surveillancereports/.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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2912. To ask the Minister for Health if a national audit has been carried out on the treatment outcomes and recurrence rates of urinary tract infections in women in primary and secondary care settings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42601/25]

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 to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.