Written Answers Nos. 586-608
586. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Health the workforce planning request by her Department for the staffing of community nursing in each HSE region; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71117/25]
View answerMy Department regularly engages with the HSE in relation to workforce composition to inform policy development and workforce planning.
Evidence gathering has commenced in relation to phase 3(ii) of the Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix in community settings. This includes a comprehensive body of independent research and a understanding of the current workforce requirements in the HSE.
The Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix (The Framework) is a flexible, evidence-based approach to determine safe staffing and skill mix for nursing based on patient need.
The programme of work aimed to develop and implement a Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix in a variety of care settings is undertaken on a phased basis.
Phase 1 of the Framework applies to General and Specialist, Medical and Surgical Care Settings and was published by the Department of Health in 2018. Phase 2 of the Framework applies to Adult Emergency Care Settings and was published by the Department of Health in 2022. Phase 3 has a number of stages and focuses on community care settings.
Phase 3(i) of the Framework applies to Long Term Residential Care Settings and is currently being developed with a policy due in 2026.
Phase 3(ii) is focused on determining safe nurse staffing levels and skill mix within community settings in Ireland.
587. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Health the number of vacancies of RGNs in community nursing roles in each HSE region; the measures being taken to address this; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71118/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
588. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of current staffing in community nursing in each HSE region, by function and by grade; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71119/25]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, this PQ has been referred to the HSE to respond.
589. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health to improve health care of all patients in County Kerry by ensuring University Hospital Kerry is fully operational all year round, including Saturdays, Sundays and on Bank Holidays; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71162/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
590. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Health if she intends to expand the opening hours of minor injury units at St. John's, Ennis and Nenagh; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71180/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
591. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Health the additional clinical capacity and services she intends to deploy at St. John's, Ennis and Nenagh hospitals in order to relieve pressure at University Hospital Limerick, Dooradoyle; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71181/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
592. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Health to expedite a plastic surgery outpatient appointment in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71191/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
593. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health if she will engage with Cork University Hospital and the HSE to examine the need for additional facilities and dedicated space for the rheumatology outpatient department at CUH; if consideration will be given to providing an appropriate area for multidisciplinary team consultations, patient education, and associated administrative functions in order to improve service efficiency and patient experience; and if she will liaise with Cork City Council regarding the inclusion of a specific development objective in the Cork City Development Plan to support this requirement. [71196/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
594. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health the number of HIQA inspections of University Hospital Limerick; the number of these inspections which were unannounced in each of the years 2022, 2023, 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71227/25]
View answerIn the years 2022 to 2025 inclusive, HIQA has conducted 6 inspections at University Hospital Limerick. 5 of those inspections monitored UHL's performance against the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare and 1 monitored against the regulations governing medical exposure to ionising radiation.
3 inspections were unannounced and took place on Mar 15, 2022; Feb 21-22, 2023; and Nov 21, 2023.
3 inspections were announced and took place on May 31, 2023; Jan 30, 2025; and Nov 18-19, 2025.
The details of the inspections are set out in the attached table.
595. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will receive the Dexcom continuous glucose monitor for a person with type 1 diabetes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71228/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
596. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the key improvements delivered in mental health services in 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71237/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
597. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the key improvements delivered in primary care services in 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71238/25]
View answerThe development of primary care services – alongside social and community care more broadly – is central to this Government's aim of delivering a high-quality, integrated and cost-effective health care system, with services provided as close to home as possible.
The Enhanced Community Care (ECC) programme is allocated €195m in recurring annual funding and forms part of wider efforts to deliver on Sláintecare and the promise of care being delivered in the right place at the right time and as close to home as possible. The ECC programme includes a number of different elements that enhance primary care services across the country.
Amongst other initiatives, the funding has allowed for the full rollout of 96 Community Healthcare Networks (CHNs) and enables the continued development of 30 Community Specialist Teams for Older Persons, and 30 Community Specialist Teams for the Management of Chronic Diseases, and with full national coverage by Community Intervention Teams achieved.
All 96 CHNs are now operational, servicing local populations of 50,000 people per network, and supporting GPs in providing integrated, community-based care. 27 Community Specialist Teams (CSTs) for Older Persons are operational, alongside 26 Community Specialist teams for Chronic Disease management working in an integrated way with acute services to support older patients and those with chronic illnesses across the areas of diabetes, respiratory and cardiology.
Throughout 2025, the Programme has focused on increasing productivity and impact. This is being achieved through continued focus on consolidating the ECC Model and increasing activity with the resources available through increased technology uptake and the scaling of digital initiatives.
This year to date (end Q3, latest data) Community Healthcare Networks have seen over 842,000 patients. CSTs for Older Persons also continue to increase activity, with over 106,000 patient contacts delivered to the end of September with a significant majority of these (84%) discharged home, demonstrating continued effective community management for fragile and complex patient cases for those over 75, alongside these 344,000 patient contacts were also delivered by CSTs for Chronic Disease Management (37% ahead of target).
Community Intervention Teams (CIT) also continue to perform strongly, with over 100,000 referrals to the end of October 2025. This demonstrates activity which is 10% ahead of target for the year to date. Patients accessing CIT services are enabled to avoid hospital attendance or admittance and to be discharged earlier from hospitals to receive appropriate care in their homes.
Since January 2021, GPs now have increased direct access to MRI, DEXA and CT scans and X-ray via the GP Access to Community Diagnostics initiative. This structured pathway for GPs to directly access diagnostic tests for their patients, which is open to referrals for the full adult population aged 16 years and over, enables a greater level of care to be delivered in the community, supporting patient-centred care, early diagnosis, and early intervention.
Over 280k scans of various modalities were completed through the GP Access to Community Diagnostics Scheme in 2024, resulting in a reduction of over 85% in patients requiring diagnostic referral to emergency departments or acute medical units, and approximately 25% diverted from public hospital radiology departments. Over 187k scans have been provided in 2025 as of September, continuing to support access to diagnostic scans in the community for patients.
Furthermore, a mobile x-ray service, provided by Mobile Medical Diagnostics (MMD), is now operating nationally in 2025. The service is targeted primarily to older persons residing in nursing homes, however access is also available to those in community disability units and private dwellings where attendance for an X-ray outside their home might pose challenges.
Nationally, we have made real progress in developing our primary care infrastructure. There is a total of 180 Primary Care Centres (PCCs) operational across the country with 51 of these PCCs opening since 2020. A further seven Primary Care Centres are currently in construction, with two of these PCCs due to open by year end 2025 and a further four are due to open in 2026.
I am very conscious, in particular, of the central role that primary care therapies play for children and adults in offering the opportunity for earlier, cost-effective and impactful interventions. It is important to recognise that overall activity within the eight core primary care therapies is significant. While it is important to note that some 1.4 million patients were seen in 2024, and 1.1 million patients have been seen as of October 2025, I fully acknowledge that waiting lists for primary care therapies have increased significantly.
Building on successful local initiatives, in September this year, I asked the CEO of the HSE to put measures in place to address physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language therapy lists in order to reduce the waiting times for these three therapies to less than 10 months. It is expected that this measure will remove 60,000 people from the waiting lists across the three therapies.
This initiative is being supported by a joint programmatic approach between the Department and the HSE, which aims to make an immediate impact, while also progressing sustainable reform across these Primary Care therapies.
These investments and reforms are a demonstration of the commitment to shift the focus of healthcare delivery towards a more comprehensive and accessible primary care service in order to deliver better care, closer to people’s homes, in communities across the country.
598. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the key improvements delivered in older people’s services in 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71239/25]
View answerThe investment in Older Persons services under the budget for 2025 increased to approximately 3 billion euro which represented a significant funding increase for older persons Residential and community services with the Fair Deal scheme and home support services receiving significant funding for the year.
The Fair Deal scheme has seen its budget increase from €968 million in 2019 to €1.221 billion in 2025. Additionally, in 2025, €10 million of additional support for private and voluntary nursing homes was made available to eligible nursing homes under the new Nursing Home Residential Premises Upgrade (RPU) Scheme. This scheme supported nursing homes to upgrade their premises, and to improve compliance with standards published by HIQA under Regulation 17 (Premises). Each qualifying nursing home could claim up to €25,000 for eligible works carried out under the Scheme between 1 January 2024 and 14 November 2025 (Scheme closing date).
There was Circa €840 million allocated to home support services for the year 2025, an increase of over €120 million on the previous year. This funding has supported the delivery of over 21 million home support hours to the end of October 2025. This amounts to over 1.4 million more hours (+7.4%) than delivered in the same period last year.
On the 9th December 2025 Cabinet approved the publication of the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025 with a view to progressing to the Oireachtas early in the new year.
The Bill will introduce, for the first time, the registration and regulation by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and the Chief Inspector of Social Services of all home support providers in Ireland.
The new system of regulation for home support will ensure that the public can be confident that the services provided are of a high standard and will bring Ireland in line with best international practice.
Regarding Community based services, the funding for Meals on Wheels services has increased from €3.5 million in 2022 to €6.25 million for 2025, representing an increase of approximately of 80%. I am pleased to report that a further increase in funding for Meals on Wheels services was announced in the Budget in October, providing an additional €2 million to increase services in 2026.
Additionally for 2025, The Department has progressed a number key Programme for Government commitments with the National Policy Framework for Adult Safeguarding in the Health and Social Care Sector being approved by Government and published on the 9th of December 2025. This is the first policy of its kind in Ireland.
The policy framework will extend across all public, private and voluntary health and social care services. A range of both legislative and non-legislative measures are included to significantly expand and strengthen existing supports and protections for adults at risk of harm across the health and social care sector. Implementation structures as set out in the policy will now be established and the Chief Social Worker in the HSE will lead the development of an implementation plan within 6 months.
The Government has also approved the development of legislation to underpin the commitments within the policy framework. The Department of Health is progressing the drafting of a General Scheme of a Safeguarding Bill to support implementation of this policy.
Another key area of work which has been advanced within the Department of Health for 2025 is in relation to the Commission on Care for Older People. The independent Commission on Care for Older People was established in March 2024, fulfilling the commitment in the Programme for Government (2020).
The Commission, which is chaired by Professor Alan Barrett (ESRI) and comprised of independent experts, is charged with examining the provision of health and social care services and supports for older people and with making recommendations to the Government for their strategic development. Subsequently a cross-departmental group will be established under the auspices of the Commission to consider whether the supports for positive ageing across the life-course are fit-for-purpose and to develop a costed implementation plan for options to optimise these supports.
The work of the Commission is being advanced through three modules which will run consecutively. Module 1 is on the effectiveness, adequacy and efficiency of the care and supports which are currently provided within the health and social care system for older people. It is expected that the Module 1 report will be published in Quarter 1 2026.
Detailed information on the Commission’s work is available on the Government of Ireland’s website at: http://www.gov.ie/commissiononcare.
The Department of Health and HSE work continuously across a number of divisions to progress government legislation and policy workstreams to promote and develop beneficial services for the entire population of Ireland.
599. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the key improvements delivered in acute hospital services in 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71240/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
600. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of children admitted to adult mental health units to date in 2025. [71241/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
601. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of home support hours currently being provided in each LHO area as of 1 December 2025 or the latest date available; the way that compares to target in each LHO for the same time period; the number of persons currently on the waiting list for home support hours in each LHO area; the number waiting 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 and the number waiting 12 months plus, in tabular form. [71242/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
602. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of persons awaiting placement under the fair deal scheme as of 1 December 2025 or latest date available; the average waiting time; the number of persons currently awaiting placement under the scheme for each local health area; and the length of time waiting, in tabular form. [71243/25]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
603. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of delayed discharges at the end of November 2025 for each public and voluntary hospital; and the total number to date in 2025, in tabular form. [71244/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
604. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of bed days lost owing to delayed discharges to date in 2025, for each public and voluntary hospital, in tabular form. [71245/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
605. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of spinal fusion patients currently waiting less than four months for treatment for both Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin and Temple Street Children’s University Hospital for the end of November 2025 or the latest date available; the number waiting 4-8 months and more than 8 months; and if she would provide the same information for other spinal patients, in tabular form. [71246/25]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
606. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of persons in each LHO area waiting for a podiatry appointment in primary care as of 1 December 2025 or the latest date available; the number waiting 0 to 12, 12 to 26, 26 to 52 and the number waiting more than 52 weeks. [71247/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
607. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of persons in each LHO area waiting for an ophthalmology appointment in primary care as of 1 December 2025 or the latest date available; the number waiting 0 to 12, 12 to 26, 26 to 52 and the number waiting more than 52 weeks. [71248/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
608. Deputy Martin Daly asked the Minister for Health the number of persons in each LHO area waiting for an audiology appointment in primary care as of 1 December 2025 or the latest date available; and the number waiting 0 to 12, 12 to 26, 26 to 52 and the number waiting more than 52 weeks. [71249/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
