Written answers
Thursday, 19 February 2026
- Mental Health Services
553. To ask the Minister for Health if funding will be made available via the mental health capital plan for a specific mental health crisis unit for County Wexford; if so, if she can outline a... - Food Safety
554. To ask the Minister for Health the measures in place to inform the public if a product for human consumption is found to contain a cancer-causing substance, or any other human health issue;... - Mental Health Services
555. To ask the Minister for Health the length of time the CAHMS vacancy for a psychologist for Gorey, County Wexford has been vacant for; the reason this position has not yet been filled; the... - Medicinal Products
560. To ask the Minister for Health whether the Primary Care Reimbursement Service holds reimbursement claims data for salbutamol nebules dispensed under the general medical services scheme from... - Health Strategies
565. To ask the Minister for Health to provide an update on a new cardiovascular strategy; the expected timeline for its publication; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13452/26] - Disability Services
567. To ask the Minister for Health if she will urgently review the case of a person (details supplied) in relation to their personal assistant budget, where an increase was verbally agreed by... - Emergency Departments
568. To ask the Minister for Health to provide the weekly urgent and emergency care reports for each ED from 1 January 2026 to-date; the reason these reports are not available publicly on the HSE... - Mental Health Services
569. To ask the Minister for Health the steps she is taking to immediately address the ongoing failures at the Central Mental Hospital, where patients continue to experience unacceptable... - Health Screening Programmes
570. To ask the Minister for Health the rates of non-attendance for bowel screening appointments for 2023, 2024 and 2025, broken down by individual hospital; and if she will make a statement on... - Legislative Process
571. To ask the Minister for Health if she will outline each section of enacted legislation where the responsibility lies with the Minister to commence that section, which has not been commenced;... - Ambulance Service
572. To ask the Minister for Health for the average ambulance response time in County Galway; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13531/26] - Legislative Measures
579. To ask the Minister for Health the steps her Department is taking to address the gaps in the assisted human reproduction legislative framework that continue to affect LGBTQ+ families,... - Healthcare Infrastructure Provision
580. To ask the Minister for Health if funding will be made available via the mental health capital plan for a specific mental health crisis unit for County Wexford following discussions on... - Vaccination Programme
581. To ask the Minister for Health to confirm that the estimate for immunisation has increased from €10,788,000 in 2025 to €54,377,000 in 2026 in the Revised Estimates for Public... - Departmental Funding
582. To ask the Minister for Health to provide, the full list of all non-statutory bodies in receipt of direct funding from her Department in each of the past five years; the annual amount... - Child Protection
583. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department requires non-statutory bodies in receipt of direct funding to maintain a Department-approved safeguarding policy, a designated... - Departmental Funding
585. To ask the Minister for Health whether funding agreements with non-statutory bodies include defined service-quality standards, measurable performance indicators, reporting obligations beyond... - Medicinal Products
588. To ask the Minister for Health the number of claims submitted under the General Medical Services Scheme, Drugs Payment Scheme and Long-Term Illness Scheme for salbutamol nebules or... - Emergency Services
592. To ask the Minister for Health when 24/7 cover of the Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) in Roscommon will be operational given that the advanced paramedic roster for the RRV is now full; and when... - Mental Health Services
593. To ask the Minister for Health whether the 2021 consultant post in child and adolescent psychiatry approved under the National Gender Service Model of Care (2018), referenced in PQ 70457/25,... - Departmental Reviews
598. To ask the Minister for Health when the review of the National Gender Service Model of Care (2018), referenced in PQ 70457/25, formally commenced; the governance structure overseeing the... - Healthcare Policy
600. To ask the Minister for Health what national clinical governance arrangements currently apply to specialist gender healthcare services for children and adolescents while the National Gender... - Pharmacy Services
603. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted a formal risk assessment of the requirement that dispensing pharmacies must contact the primary care reimbursement service... - Medicinal Products
604. To ask the Minister for Health whether there is a formal departmental policy providing for automatic reimbursement of clinically equivalent substitute medicines once the Health Products... - Pharmacy Services
606. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the administrative burden placed on community pharmacies in circumstances where substitute reimbursement must be... - Medicinal Products
607. To ask the Minister for Health whether national clinical governance guidance has been issued by her Department or by the HSE in respect of reimbursement decision-making during shortages of... - Departmental Expenditure
609. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted any value-for-money or cost-comparison analysis between maintaining automatic substitute reimbursement mechanisms during... - Pharmacy Services
610. To ask the Minister for Health whether any equity impact assessment has been conducted to determine whether patients without medical cards or without established drugs payment scheme... - Medicinal Products
611. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department has engaged with representative bodies for community pharmacists, respiratory clinicians, or patient advocacy groups in relation to... - Departmental Schemes
613. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2074 of 13 January 2026, to list all written directions, circulars, guidance notes, governance frameworks or performance... - Healthcare Policy
616. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department has approved any national governance, safeguarding, and clinical governance framework for gender identity services for children and... - Departmental Policies
620. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department has approved a national KPI set for recruitment governance across services funded under the Health Vote, including vacancy definitions,... - Departmental Data
621. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2162 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department requires the HSE to provide recruitment and vacancy data to the... - Hospital Transfers
622. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2164 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department will require the HSE to report quarterly to the Department the estimated... - Departmental Expenditure
623. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2164 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department has approved any standard national methodology for calculating bed-day... - Healthcare Policy
624. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department requires maternity services to record and report, as a national patient safety governance measure, any instance where signs of life are... - Disease Management
626. To ask the Minister for Health further to the reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 2312 to 2316 of 13 January 2026, whether her Department holds the HSE tender evaluation summary,... - Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
627. To ask the Minister for Health the Government’s long-term approach to supporting people suffering from long-Covid, in circumstances where specific illness benefit arrangements for... - Hospital Staff
628. To ask the Minister for Health to provide an update on the efforts being made to secure the services of an orthodontist for the regional orthodontic service based at Louth County Hospital,... - Hospital Waiting Lists
629. To ask the Minister for Health to provide the number, age range and category of patient currently waiting for orthodontic assessment and orthodontic treatment at the regional orthodontic... - Health Service Executive
630. To ask the Minister for Health the full list of national workforce Key Performance Indicators currently agreed between her Department and the HSE for 2025; the date on which each KPI was... - Health Services Staff
631. To ask the Minister for Health whether the average time taken to fill funded vacant posts, from approval to commencement in post, is monitored at national level; if so, the most recent... - Health Service Executive
635. To ask the Minister for Health if she is aware that there are delays of up to ten working days arising in providing access to IT accounts for HSE staff returning to work after periods of... - Medicinal Products
636. To ask the Minister for Health the current number of medicines listed as being in short supply on the national medicines shortage list maintained by the Health Products Regulatory Authority;... - Departmental Reviews
642. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department requires that lifetime modelling of avoided downstream healthcare costs, including reduced hospital admissions, surgical interventions,... - Health Service Executive
644. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the extent to which population-level disease prevention benefits are reflected in cost-effectiveness evaluations carried... - Medical Cards
646. To ask the Minister for Health whether her Department receives annual or quarterly statistical reports from the Health Service Executive on discretionary medical card approvals and refusals... - Medical Qualifications
652. To ask the Minister for Health when she will consider and publish the review of the physician assistant or associate role in the health service; if she will sanction the grade and role; the... - General Practitioner Services
653. To ask the Minister for Health the total number of whole-time equivalent GPs practising in the State in each year from 2020 to 2025; the estimated population per GP ratio in each year; and... - Mental Health Services
654. To ask the Minister for Health the total amount of funding allocated in 2025 and to date in 2026 to commission external private providers under Service Level Agreements or Grant Aid... - Health Services Waiting Lists
656. To ask the Minister for Health the impact of the commissioning of external psychological service providers in HSE South West on primary care child psychology waiting lists; the reduction... - Mental Health Services
657. To ask the Minister for Health whether it is Government policy to continue the commissioning of external private providers for primary care level child and adolescent psychological... - Healthcare Policy
661. To ask the Minister for Health the steps that have been taken to progress the lymphoedema and lipoedema model of care further to successful outcomes from Proof-of-Concept services; and if... - Legislative Measures
662. To ask the Minister for Health when the draft Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) (Amendment) Bill will be published; and if she will make a statement on the... - Health Strategies
663. To ask the Minister for Health the aspects of the National Strategy for Accelerating Genetics and Genomic Medicine that will be progressed in 2026; the funding that will be required to do... - Cancer Services
664. To ask the Minister for Health the aspects of the Hereditary Cancer Model of Care that will be progressed in 2026; the funding that will be required to do so; and if she will make a... - Health Screening Programmes
665. To ask the Minister for Health if she will provide an update on the implementation of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) screening within the national newborn bloodspot screening programme; the... - General Practitioner Services
666. To ask the Minister for Health if she will address the exclusion of some general practices from the revised social deprivation practice grant (details supplied); if she will take urgent... - Healthcare Policy
668. To ask the Minister for Health if she will commit to the publication of a comprehensive framework outlining a programme for the diagnosis and treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder,... - Medicinal Products
672. To ask the Minister for Health the number of people on a waiting list for pre-exposure prophylaxis, by clinic; and the wait time to be offered a new appointment in each clinic, in tabular... - Emergency Services
677. To ask the Minister for Health to provide a copy of the HEMS Feasibility Study (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13940/26] - Medical Aids and Appliances
678. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 351 of 10 December 2025, to respond to correspondence from HIQA which clearly states that criteria used in their Health... - Primary Care Centres
679. To ask the Minister for Health to confirm the intended location for the proposed Drimnagh primary care centre, specifically whether the site selected is at Curlew Road, Drimnagh, Dublin 12,... - Hospital Facilities
681. To ask the Minister for Health when new facilities and upgraded accommodation will be provided at a health care centre (details supplied) in view of the longstanding commitment to undertake... - Home Help Service
682. To ask the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) is not receiving enough home help hours; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13956/26] - Care Services
683. To ask the Minister for Health if she is aware that a respite service in Westmeath is being used by one service user as a long-term residential place and is preventing other service users... - Cannabis for Medicinal Use
684. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2460 of 13 January 2026, to provide an update on the review of the Medical Cannabis Access Programme; if a chairperson...
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