Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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963. To ask the Minister for Health the internal oversight or review process that exists to assess the realism of performance targets before publication in the HSE National Service Plan; and whether her Department provides direction, approval, or challenge to the HSE in relation to the achievability of such targets. [62788/25]

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.

Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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964. To ask the Minister for Health the accountability measures applied when the HSE fails to meet service plan targets by such significant margins; whether these missed targets are escalated to the Department or reported to the HSE Board; and the corrective actions required or taken. [62789/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Department’s assessment of HSE performance against National Service Plan targets and objectives is guided by a comprehensive Performance Engagement Model (PEM), comprising structured reporting and tiered engagements from operational to Secretary General-CEO level. Understanding of performance is informed by the data captured in the National Performance Report (NPR) and Management Data Report (MDR), published monthly by the HSE.

As part of an escalation process, underperformance against NSP targets is the subject of discussion at monthly engagements between the Department and HSE, with actions identified and agreed. The implementation of these actions and progress towards enhanced performance is closely monitored and reported on.

In line with the Programme for Government, the Government’s priority for 2026 is to improve healthcare access and quality across all Health Regions. This requires greater regional and national accountability for performance against service plan targets. The Department and HSE are now working together to strengthen performance monitoring and engagement to align with this approach, with a view to improving the performance of the healthcare service and raise overall standards no matter where you live.