Peadar Tóibín
Question:968. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of people who have died from cancer in each county in the State in each of the past ten years, in tabular form. [71786/25]
View answerDepartmental Data
Questions (968)
Written answers
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) publishes official statistics on deaths in Ireland through Vital Statistics publications. Vital Statistics reports are prepared by the CSO for the Minister for Social Protection in accordance with the provisions of Section 2 of the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1952 and Government Order SI 831 of 2007.
Data on deaths by date of occurrence is published by the CSO in the Vital Statistics Annual Report where all figures are classified by year of occurrence (available here: www.cso.ie/en/statistics/birthsdeathsandmarriages/vitalstatisticsannualreport). Information on deaths is only available for deaths which have been registered with the General Registers Office (GRO). Deaths not registered during the year of occurrence or in the subsequent 22 months are not available for the Annual Report. The latest Annual Report with data on deaths by date of occurrence is for deaths occurring in 2023.
Deaths classified as unnatural deaths must be referred to the local Coroner for investigation. Investigations can take a protracted length of time to complete for various reasons which delays the registration of such deaths in time for inclusion in the Vital Statistics Annual Report. The exclusion of these cases can have a relatively more significant effect on the number of deaths classified to some external causes.
To account for late registered deaths (deaths registered after the publication of the Vital Statistics Annual Report i.e. registered more than 22 months after year-end of the year of occurrence), the CSO also publishes ‘Revised Deaths Occurring’ data. The ‘Revised Deaths Occurring’ tables were created to take account of late registered deaths and update figures published at the time of previous Annual Reports. The CSO will continue to revise these figures over time to take account of further late registrations.
The data at the link below on deaths from cancer by county is sourced from the CSO PxStat Table VSA112: Revised Deaths Occurring (data.cso.ie/table/VSA112) for the years 2015 to 2022 to take account of revised data. For deaths occurring in 2023 the data is sourced from the Vital Statistics Annual Report 2023 (CSO PxStat Table VSA101: Deaths Occurring (data.cso.ie/table/VSA101).
Data is provided at the link below for the number of deaths with a cause of death of Malignant Neoplasm (C00-C99) for both sexes, by administrative area of residence (CSO publishes data by local authority administrative areas rather than counties) for the years 2015-2023.
In addition, data is set out at the link below for the standardised death rate per 1,000 population from Neoplasms by administrative area of residence for 2015-2023 (sourced from CSO PxStat Table VSD12: Standardised Death Rates (data.cso.ie/table/VSD12). The (age) standardised death rate is a weighted average of age-specific mortality rates. The weighting factor is the age distribution of a standard reference population. Standardised death rates at local authority level are calculated using the total population of the State for the reference year. Standardised Deaths Rates take account of differences in population structure across counties. For the years 2015-2017 data is presented separately for North Tipperary and South Tipperary, from 2018 onwards data is presented for Tipperary.
The National Cancer Registry of Ireland publishes extensive information on cancer incidence, survival and mortality (www.ncri.ie/en).
Ambulance Service
Questions (969)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:969. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of assaults on ambulance workers reported nationally in each of the past ten years. [71787/25]
View answerWritten answers
I have asked the HSE to reply directly to the Deputy on this matter.
Departmental Data
Questions (970)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:970. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of adverse incidents reported through the National Incident Management System NIMS in each of the past ten years; the number of which were extreme, major, and the number which resulted in death or incapacity, in tabular form. [71788/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Departmental Budgets
Questions (971)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:971. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the compensation budget for the HSE for each of the past ten years. [71789/25]
View answerWritten answers
The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive (HSE).
The table below sets out the budget allocations from the Health Vote to the HSE for payments to the SCA for each year since 2015 for the management and settlement of health related claims, including those relating to medical compensation.
|
Year |
Amount allocated under the Health Vote to the Health Service Executive for payments to the State Claims Agency (€000) |
|
2015 |
189,000 |
|
2016 |
198,000 |
|
2017 |
274,000 |
|
2018 |
320,000 |
|
2019 |
370,000 |
|
2020 |
400,000 |
|
2021 |
410,000 |
|
2022 |
530,000 |
|
2023 |
510,000 |
|
2024 |
485,000 |
|
2025 |
427,000 |
Budget allocation for health related claims from the Health Vote to the HSE for payments to the State Claims Agency. The above figures include supplementary estimates provided, where relevant.
Health Service Executive
Questions (972)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:972. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the amount paid out in compensation by the HSE in each of the past ten years, by each CHO area. [71792/25]
View answerWritten answers
The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury and third-party property damage claims on behalf of State authorities including the Health Service Executive (HSE). The SCA has provided me with the information set out below.
The table at the following link shows amounts paid by the SCA in damages (including VAT where applicable) on associated claims, as well as a small number of incidents and inquests, from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2024 against the HSE. Please note that, following the Sláintecare changes, the CHO Areas no longer exist within the HSE structure, and we are responding in respect of the six HSE Regions as set out below.
This data covers both the Clinical Indemnity Scheme (CIS) and the General Indemnity Scheme (GIS) and excludes claims recorded under other designated schemes.
The information contained within this response was extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
Health Service Executive
Questions (973)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:973. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the total amount owed to the HSE by patients or former patients who have not paid their hospital bills. [71793/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Health Service Executive
Questions (974)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:974. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the total amount paid by the HSE to debt collector companies in each of the past ten years. [71794/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Tribunals of Inquiry
Questions (975)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:975. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who have availed of the CervicalCheck Tribunal to date; and the amount which has been paid out under the tribunal. [71795/25]
View answerWritten answers
The CervicalCheck Tribunal was established on 27 October 2020 under the CervicalCheck Tribunal Act 2019.
The number of claims made to the CervicalCheck Tribunal
Twenty-six [26] claims (of which two were combined) were lodged with the Tribunal.
Twenty [20] claims were lodged by women and six [6] claims were lodged by or on behalf of the statutory dependants of women.
The number of claims resolved by the Tribunal
All twenty-six [26] claims made to the Tribunal were processed.
Eighteen [18] claims were resolved on the basis of a settlement reached between the parties.
Seven [7] cases were resolved on the basis of a Notification issued pursuant to s.12 of the CervicalCheck Tribunal Act, 2019. This means that the claimants were notified by the Tribunal that it was not in a position to hear and determine the claim for want of either respondent or third-party consent in circumstances where such consent was either not forthcoming or had been withdrawn.
One [1] case was struck out when an ‘Unless Order’ came into effect.
Payments
The Tribunal did not make any payments. Some of the 25 cases were settled between the parties, some were withdrawn and went to the High Court, and some were abandoned completely. None went to a full hearing and, therefore, no awards were made by the Tribunal.
In a letter dated 31 July 2023, the Tribunal Chairperson informed the Minister for Health that all claims had been processed, and that as such the Tribunal’s core statutory functions had been completed.
Having completed its required administrative work and discharging any remaining obligations conferred upon the Chairperson, Judge Power submitted her resignation as Chairperson of the Tribunal on 18 April 2024.
Health Service Executive
Questions (976)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:976. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of cases which have been taken against the HSE over the alleged misreading of smear tests in each of the past ten years. [71796/25]
View answerWritten answers
The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury and third-party property damage claims on behalf of State authorities including the Health Service Executive (HSE). The SCA has provided me with the information set out below.
The information contained within this response has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and is accurate as of 10/12/2025.
The State Claims Agency (SCA) has received 409 CervicalCheck claims between 01/01/2015 and 09/12/2025, including 86 psychological claims brought by family members. Note, claim numbers may differ slightly from previous reports due to claim reclassifications in the intervening period.
Table 1: Cervical Cancer NSS Claims Received between 01/01/2015 – 09/12/2025
|
Year Claim Created |
Number of Claims |
|
2015 |
0 |
|
2016 |
2 |
|
2017 |
1 |
|
2018 |
86 |
|
2019 |
52 |
|
2020 |
95 |
|
2021 |
103 |
|
2022 |
39 |
|
2023 |
14 |
|
2024 |
10 |
|
2025 (YTD) |
7 |
|
Grand Total |
409 |
Health Service Executive
Questions (977)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:977. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the total cost to the State associated with the cyber-attack on the HSE and her Department in recent years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71797/25]
View answerWritten answers
The health service was targeted by a criminally motivated cyber-attack in May 2021. The impact of this serious incident varied depending on the extent to which services relied upon technology, but in the main the ransomware attack had a devastating impact on the delivery of health services generally and specifically for patients who relied on them.
The HSE has invested significantly in cyber remediation since the cyberattack in 2021. An independent post incident report (PIR) commissioned by the board of the HSE following the attack, highlighted areas that needed to be addressed. The HSE have been very effective in addressing all issues highlighted since the publication of that report. Recommendations from that report were ranked such that the ones that would have the most immediate impact and could be implemented soonest, were pursued first.
There are multiple ongoing programmes of work focused on addressing all issues highlighted in the wake of the attack, reducing risk, building cyber resilience, and building additional cyber security capability and capacity through the establishment of a dedicated cyber security function under the leadership of a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) within the HSE.
The cost of remediation of services in the aftermath of the 2021 cyberattack was estimated by the HSE to be €102m (as of Nov 2024). The costs of the cyber-attack will be updated to take account of individual settlements resulting from the outcome of legal cases taken against the HSE and that featured in the media this week.
The HSE continues to invest significantly in multi-layered cyber defences, including technology, processes, and people, in order to reduce the likelihood and impact of cyberattacks. The HSE allocated funding for specific actions within the voluntary sector also.
In order to address the ongoing risks associated with cyberattack and the need to build cyber resilience, the Government has provided additional, dedicated funding in recent years. There was an additional non-core funding of €40m in 2023, an additional allocation of non-core funding of €55m in 2024, and in 2025, the ICT & Cyber programme was allocated a total of €70m as part of core funding under the HSE National Service Plan.
Health Service Executive
Questions (978)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:978. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who have contacted the HSE's drug and alcohol helpline in each of the past ten years. [71798/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Health Service Executive
Questions (979)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:979. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who have undergone the HSE's suicide prevention training in each of the past ten years. [71799/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Departmental Data
Questions (980)
Peadar Tóibín
Question:980. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of suicides or suspected suicides in the State in each of the past ten years; if her Department holds data to indicate whether the suicide rate in increasing or decreasing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71800/25]
View answerWritten answers
The Department of Health is not responsible for the publication of statistics on the number of suicides in the State. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) publishes Vital Statistics for the Minister for Social Protection in accordance with the provisions of Section 2 of the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1952 and Government Order SI 831 of 2007. Vital Statistics include statistics on deaths by cause of death.
The CSO publishes quarterly Vital Statistics on all registered deaths as well as a Yearly Summary (available at: www.cso.ie/en/statistics/birthsdeathsandmarriages/vitalstatistics/). These reports record the number of deaths registered in that quarter or year by cause of death. Information on deaths is only available for deaths which have been registered with the General Registers Office (GRO).
Data on deaths by date of occurrence is published by the CSO in the Vital Statistics Annual Report where all figures are classified by year of occurrence i.e. the year in which the death occurred (available at: www.cso.ie/en/statistics/birthsdeathsandmarriages/vitalstatisticsannualreport/). Deaths not registered with the GRO during the year of occurrence or the subsequent 22 months are not available for the Vital Statistics Annual Report.
All deaths attributable to external causes are referred to the Coroner. Investigations can take a protracted length of time to complete. As such, these deaths are registered after the standard three-month time period, and can be later than the 22-month deadline for CSO annual Vital Statistics publications.
Data on deaths registered with a cause of death of ‘intentional self-harm’ are reported in all the CSO’s quarterly and annual Vital Statistics publications. However, as deaths due to external causes are reported to the Coroner's Office for further investigation, the number of registrations for any given period will likely underrepresent the number of deaths which have occurred due to suicide, accidents or other external causes of mortality. Given the impact of late registrations, the CSO introduced a range of additional tables for ‘Revised Deaths Occurring’ to take account of late registered deaths.
The CSO also publish a dedicated annual release on Suicide Statistics (available at: www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-ss/suicidestatistics2022/). The latest release was published in November 2025 and includes data on deaths occurring in 2022. In this release, the CSO indicates that ten years ago, in 2012, the number of deaths due to suicide stood at 585, noting that the 500 deaths due to suicide in 2022 represents a decrease of 14.5%. However, they underline that late registrations impact comparability across years. This provides an indication of a downward trend in suicides over the ten-year period 2012-2022, the latest year for which official CSO statistics on suicide are available.
The CSO-Suicide Mortality Statistics Liaison Group (see: www.cso.ie/en/aboutus/lgdp/cgt/ocg/csogroups/smslg/) works with a range of stakeholders, including the Department of Health, to improve the quality and timeliness of suicide statistics and their dissemination.
In response to the question, please find at the link below data extracted from the CSO’s PxStat database Table VSA35 (data.cso.ie/table/VSA35) Revised Deaths Occurring on the number of deaths with a cause of death of ‘X60-X84 Intentional self-harm’ for the ten years 2013-2022, the most recent available. These data will continue to be updated and revised by the CSO as a result of late registrations.
Data is not available on suspected suicides from the CSO’s Vital Statistics data.
In the last year, the Department of Health have established the National Probable Suicide Monitoring System (NPSMS) within the Health Research Board (HRB). The NPSMS is a new database which will collect and publish data on deaths by probable suicide in Ireland. As researchers will collect data from coronial files, including on probable suicides, i.e. not solely where the Coroner has determined a verdict of suicide, the NPSMS will provide data on more deaths than those recorded in the CSO data, and will have more in-depth information on the characteristics of people who have died by probable suicide.
Connecting for Life (CfL), Ireland’s national suicide reduction strategy, which came to an end in 2024, has guided suicide reduction efforts for the last decade. Reducing deaths by suicide is a very complex task, but evidence and experience internationally shows that measurable improvements in suicide prevention can be achieved through effective cross-governmental work. Connecting for Life adopted this approach and suicide reduction initiatives have been advanced in many areas, including health, local government, justice, media, and agriculture.
Work to develop a successor suicide reduction strategy is well advanced. Connecting for Life has been formally evaluated, and the Department of Health has run a public consultation survey, which received approximately 1,900 submissions, and held 7 in-person consultation sessions. The significant response by the public to this consultation demonstrates the strength of feeling to reducing lives lost to suicide in our country. The voices of those with lived experience will be central to shaping our next national strategy.
The reports arising from the various aspects of the public consultation were recently published and these, along with the findings from the evaluation of Connecting for Life, will be invaluable in the development of Ireland’s next suicide reduction strategy.
Primary Care Centres
Questions (981)
Tom Brabazon
Question:981. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Health the name of the clinics that are held at Coolock primary care centre; and the frequency with which each of those clinics are held, in tabular form. [71805/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Primary Care Centres
Questions (982)
Tom Brabazon
Question:982. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Health the name of the clinics that are held at Kilbarrack health centre; and the frequency with which each of those clinics are held, in tabular form. [71806/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Dental Services
Questions (983)
Tom Brabazon
Question:983. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Health the locations currently within CHO 9 where HSE employed dentists are based in each primary care centre and health centre, by grade, in tabular form. [71807/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Primary Care Centres
Questions (984)
Tom Brabazon
Question:984. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Health the services that are currently being provided at Bayside primary care centre; the WTE staff, by job title working within this centre; and if any further services are being proposed for this centre in the first half of 2026. [71808/25]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Departmental Programmes
Questions (985)
Marie Sherlock
Question:985. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the timeline for the HIQA and NASC evidence review to consider changes to the BreastCheck programme, particularly the proposed expansion of the age range eligibility to those aged 70-74 as conditionally recommended by the European Guidelines on Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71830/25]
View answerWritten answers
As Minister for Health, I am committed to supporting our population screening programmes, which are a valuable part of our health service, enabling early treatment and care for many people, and improving the overall health of our population.
The Programme for Government commits to extending the ages for the BreastCheck Screening Programme, in line with updated standards from HIQA.
BreastCheck, the National Breast Screening Programme, currently invites women aged 50 to 69 years at regular intervals to have a screening mammogram. In Budget 2025, an additional €2.9 million was allocated to the BreastCheck programme to support the recruitment of 22 Whole Time Equivalent posts. This will assist in expanding and future-proofing the programme to meet increased demand.
I would note that any proposed changes to Ireland’s cancer screening programmes, will be facilitated through established evidence-driven protocols.
The National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) is the independent expert group that considers proposed changes to Ireland’s screening programmes. NSAC assesses the evidence in a robust and transparent manner and against internationally accepted criteria, before making recommendations to myself as Minister.
NSAC continues to progress work to consider the further expansion of our cancer screening programmes and has submitted several requests to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
HIQA has commenced a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) to consider proposals for the expansion of the BreastCheck programme. This review will comprise two elements; the proposed extension of the age range eligibility to those aged 45-49 and 70-74, and also the potential introduction of a standardised breast density notification.
HTAs facilitate the assessment of relevant evidence and knowledge on the effects and consequences of healthcare technologies to guide decisions regarding the appropriate use of technology and efficient allocation of resources. They involve a multi-disciplinary assessment of the clinical, economic, ethical, legal and societal perspectives that may be impacted by the introduction of a new technology. They are time intensive and rigorous processes that must be afforded the necessary amount of time to complete, particularly so in the context of the current BreastCheck HTA which is considering three distinct areas, the potential to increase the age eligibility, to decrease the age eligibility and potential reporting of breast density.
Finally, I would emphasise that screening programmes are for people without symptoms. If anyone becomes aware of symptoms, or if they have concerns or worries, they should contact a medical professional immediately.
Primary Care Centres
Questions (986)
Jen Cummins
Question:986. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Health if she will ensure the primary care centre development in Drimnagh will proceed.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71853/25]
View answerWritten answers
As the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly in relation to this matter.
Primary Care Centres
Questions (987)
Jen Cummins
Question:987. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Health if the primary care centre in Drimnagh will be on Curlew Road or on an adjacent site on Davitt Road where there are proposals to develop a hospital outpatient facility and 40-bed mental healthcare facility. [71854/25]
View answerWritten answers
As the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly in relation to this matter.
Care of the Elderly
Questions (988)
Jen Cummins
Question:988. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Health the position regarding future services at a centre (details supplied) in Drimnagh. [71855/25]
View answerWritten answers
In relation to Mother McAuley’s Centre’s future service in Drimnagh, the Department of Health has been advised by the HSE that the HSE will continue to fund and support the provision of services by Mother McAuley Day Care Centre in 2026.
All funding and service expansion requests from Day Care services should be submitted directly to the HSE to be reviewed and considered as part of their annual planning and budgetary allocation process for funds received from the Department of Health as the HSE has operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health services, including Day Care services.
The HSE also has responsibility for the reviewing of business cases received from individual Day Care service providers seeking funding for the provision of their services, as well as establishing service level agreements with Day Care service providers. All business cases are reviewed by the HSE under its standardised annual processes, taking into account local needs, prioritisation of services and the availability of funding for service provision.