Written Answers Nos. 989-1005
989. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Health if her Department has given consideration to the introduction of a baby loss certificate process, similar to that in place in the UK through the NHS; if not, if she will give consideration to the implementation of similar process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71932/25]
View answerI appreciate how important it is to recognise and acknowledge pregnancy loss, and the devastating impact pregnancy loss can have on families.
The Civil Registration (Electronic Registration) Act 2024, which is the responsibility of the Minister for Social Protection, has expanded access to the stillbirth register, and those who can request a certificate. Changes were made, through the Act, to the criteria for the registration of stillbirths with a reduction of the current weight and gestational age, as well as the changes to include multiple pregnancies. These changes mean that many babies will now be given the acknowledgement, recognition, and validation they deserve.
I note recent developments in the UK with respect to recognition, in line with processes in that jurisdiction. A range of further maternity reforms are currently being considered through the Programme for Government, including the development of a successor to the National Maternity Strategy.
990. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if she will meet with an organisation (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71953/25]
View answerI can advise the Deputy that my Department has received correspondence from the charity concerned and that a response has been issued in reply.
991. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health if she will respond to an issue identified with an application process (details supplied); if she will investigate the matters raised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [71954/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
992. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 215 of 22 October 2025, to provide an update on the number of full-time agency posts converted to HSE posts (details supplied) in 2024 and to date in 2025, by staff category, in tabular form. [71955/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
993. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance reason the HSE has not implemented a national HR information system capable of recording historic datasets on funded workforce posts; the date on which her Department last assessed the adequacy of the existing reporting platform used to track National Service Plan posts; and the actions now being taken to ensure future compliance with public-service data-management standards. [71957/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
994. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the basis on which the HSE concluded that it is not required to maintain historic records of funded posts that remain unfilled for extended periods; her views on whether the absence of such records meets statutory obligations for financial governance, workforce planning, and public-expenditure oversight; and if she will now issue a direction requiring the retention of longitudinal vacancy data for all funded posts. [71958/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
995. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health her Department’s assessment of the risks created by the HSE’s inability to record the duration for which funded posts remain unfilled; the way these gaps are reflected in national workforce plans submitted under the Public Service Reform framework; and the steps she is taking to ensure the HSE’s workforce data infrastructure supports evidence-based planning. [71959/25]
View answerThe HSE provide the Department of Health with a range of reports detailing staffing levels and associated pay costs across the HSE. These reports include the HSE’s monthly staff census, the monthly Limits Report detailing HSE recruitment against agreed recruitment limits, monthly pay data by category of pay cost and site, and regular responses to ad hoc data requests.
The data provided in these reports makes it possible to carryout in depth analysis of actual staff growth and pay costs. It also makes it possible to make high-level assessments of where staffing levels and pay costs are not meeting expectations. This in turn allows the Department of Health to engage productively with both the HSE and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service reform and Digitalisation on matters of workforce planning.
To facilitate additional analysis of staffing pattern within the HSE, Department officials are currently engaging with HSE colleagues in the development of reports that will detail the progression of offers of employment through the HSE’s recruitment process.
Long-term, the completion of the roll-out of the National integrated Staff Records and Pay (NiSRP) system across the whole of the HSE will be a further development in the provision of real time information on staffing levels and pay. It is excepted, that the additional data will facilitate further analysis of what is driving the HSE’s staffing growth and pay costs and what is restricting this growth.
Similar to the above, the workforce reporting requests received by the Department of Health require it to detail actual staffing levels and pay costs.
These reports do not request data on unfilled posts, or provide estimates of notional costs that were not in fact incurred, that would be dependent on many variables such as category or staff, their grade, the number of days that would make costing impractical with costs exceeding any possible benefits to be derived from requesting this extremely complex calculation, which changes on a daily basis.
996. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has conducted any financial-impact assessment of the 6,852 funded WTE posts reported as unfilled as of September 2025; the estimated Exchequer underspend arising from these unfilled posts; and the Department’s policy on how such underspends are monitored and reported. [71960/25]
View answerThe Department of Health do not conduct detailed financial-impact assessments of unfilled posts as the HSE does not produce pay or staffing data in sufficiently granular over the 9,000 grades employed to calculate the financial implications of individual posts that remain vacant at specific moments in time and change daily. The exact cost by grade is not known as it changes every day and the cost to collect this data from so many diverse sources would exceed the benefit that could possibly be derived from such an enhanced data capture exercise.
The overall financial impact of the currently less than 6,000 unfilled posts is reflected, but not separately identified in the internal financial reporting within both the HSE and the Department. In 2025, the under-spend is matched by an almost equivalent over-spend in agency costs, so that the overall payroll spend is in line with the budget spend allocation for payroll.
997. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if she will publish the key performance indicators set by her Department for clearance and screening timelines for both internal and external candidates for funded posts; the national performance against these indicators in 2024 and 2025; and the measures being taken to ensure timely appointment processes. [71961/25]
View answerI have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy on this matter.
998. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the evaluation her Department conducted prior to implementing the 2024–2025 HSE employment control measures; the projected effect of those restrictions on achieving the National Service Plan staffing targets for 2024; and whether a full impact review has been completed. [71962/25]
View answerIn 2023 the Department of Health provided funding to the HSE to recruit ~5,500 whole time equivalent staff (WTE) to Department of Health funded initiatives. This target was reached before the end of 2023 and exceeded by the end of 2023.
Because staff growth and associated pay costs are an ongoing concern, the HSE introduced several, escalating, recruitment pauses from May 2023 onward that culminated in a near total pause in the recruitment of staff to Department of Health funded initiatives in November 2023.
The recruitment pauses were reversed in July 2024, when a tripartite agreement on an approach to pay and numbers growth was reached between the Department of Health, the HSE and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service reform and Digitalisation.
The agreement allowed for the recruitment of 3,310 WTE to Department of Health funded initiatives in 2024 – an increase of 1,042 WTE over the 2,268 WTE originally provided for in the HSE’s 2024 National Service Plan. In addition, the agreement provided for the controlled and sustainable growth in WTE through the imposition of clear pay and recruitment limits.
Under the agreement there are no restrictions on recruitment other than the obligation to stay within WTE and pay funding limits. However, the effectiveness of these limits to control WTE and pay costs while delivering necessary services remains a subject of constant scrutiny.
999. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the policy under which the HSE does not maintain post-level records of agency or temporary staff assigned to cover funded development posts; the Department’s assessment of how this omission affects expenditure monitoring, audit trails and compliance with public financial-management standards; and whether she will issue a direction that such records now be maintained. [71963/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1000. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the status of the HSE’s project to procure a single national talent-acquisition system; the governance arrangements for this procurement; the expected date for system deployment; and how the Department will ensure that the new system addresses the data and reporting gaps identified in recent PQ replies. [71964/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1001. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department holds copies, summaries, notifications or logging records of any public-health risk assessments concerning communicable-disease risks among persons arriving into the State since 1 January 2020, including assessments conducted by the HSE, Public Health Units or the National Health Protection Office; the date on which each assessment was received or recorded by her Department; to identify the unit within her Department responsible for reviewing or tracking such assessments; and to outline the governance process through which her Department exercises oversight of public-health risk assessment activity in circumstances where these assessments are undertaken by the HSE. [71974/25]
View answer1002. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department holds any copies, summaries, notifications or records of public-health risk assessments concerning communicable-disease risks among persons arriving into the State since 1 January 2020, including the date each assessment was received and the unit that logged or reviewed it; and, if no such records are held, to set out how her Department exercises oversight of this area of national health-protection activity. [71975/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1001 and 1002 together.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) was an established mechanism for coordinating the health sector response to significant public health emergencies. It facilitated the sharing of information between the Department of Health and its agencies. Throughout its existence, the NPHET for COVID-19 oversaw and provided national direction, guidance, support and expert advice on the development and implementation of a strategy to contain COVID-19 in Ireland
In particular, the NPHET played a critical role in closely and continuously monitoring the evolving impact of COVID-19 on Ireland’s population, as well as the health service’s capacity, performance, and ability to respond.
The decisions and recommendations of the NPHET are published in full here: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-health/collections/minutes-and-agendas-from-meetings-of-the-nphet-covid-19/
As the Deputy will be aware, a COVID-19 Evaluation Panel has been established. This is an independent, non-statutory evaluation, with a wide remit that will incorporate pandemic responses across hospitals, the community and nursing homes, along with wider economic and societal impacts.
Public Health oversight is exercised through the Department’s Office of the Chief Medical Officer, ensuring policy leadership, strategic oversight and alignment with national Public Health policy.
With respect to the development of public health risk assessments (PHRA), the Department of Health does not conduct technical assessments. PHRA are undertaken by the HSE and its Public Health units, including the National Health Protection Office and its partners. As such, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1003. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to set out the statutory governance responsibilities of her Department in relation to the treatment abroad scheme as it applies to minors; and to outline the Department’s role in approving, overseeing or reviewing referral pathways for gender-related assessment or treatment outside the State. [71976/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1004. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide the Department’s policy framework, internal guidance or decision-support documents that informed the assessment of clinical safety, safeguarding and public-expenditure implications when minors were referred abroad for gender-related treatment; and if no such framework existed, to state the reason. [71977/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1005. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the steps taken by her Department to assess the implications of the Cass Review for Irish policy on gender-related healthcare for minors; and to specify any policy changes, clinical standards or risk-mitigation measures introduced as a result. [71978/25]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
