Written Answers Nos. 1422-1443
1423. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department intends to establish a national classification framework distinguishing medically necessary procedures from elective, quality-of-life, experimental or non-urgent procedures for public funding and governance purposes. [39782/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1424. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health if she will consider extending the medical card scheme to cover autism assessments for adults given the cost of such assessments can be a barrier for adults; if she will ensure that adults with autism are diagnosed correctly and therefore not prevented from accessing supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39783/26]
View answerThis PQ is not for the Department of Health. We respectfully request that this Parliamentary Question be redirected to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality as the matters raised fall under their remit.
1425. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of agency staff converted to permanent employment under the July 2025 framework, by Health Region and staff grade. [39785/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1426. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the percentage reduction in agency staffing expenditure achieved in each Health Region since implementation of the July 2025 agency conversion framework. [39786/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1427. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE centrally monitors variation between Health Regions in the implementation of agency staff conversion policies; and whether any region has been identified as underperforming. [39787/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1428. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national targets, timelines or KPIs have been established for reducing long-term agency staffing dependency across the health service. [39788/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1429. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the services or specialties currently most dependent on long-term agency staffing, by Health Region. [39789/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1430. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE assesses the impact of repeated agency staff turnover on continuity of care, patient outcomes, or service quality. [39790/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1431. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any independent audit or value-for-money review has been conducted regarding agency staff conversion measures introduced in July 2025. [39791/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1432. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether agency staffing suppliers are performance monitored nationally; and whether any suppliers have been subject to sanctions, restrictions, or removal from approved frameworks since 2020. [39792/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1433. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any HSE information systems operate with formally defined acceptable error-rate thresholds; and if she will provide details by system category. [39810/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1434. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE records the frequency of identified human-data-entry errors across major clinical and administrative systems; and if so, the annual figures recorded since 2020. [39811/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1435. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any HSE systems trigger automatic escalation procedures when data quality issues exceed predefined thresholds; and if she will provide details. [39812/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1436. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE maintains a national register of serious data-quality incidents affecting patient care, referrals, waiting lists, prescribing, diagnostics or scheduling systems. [39813/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1437. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of incidents since 2020 in which inaccurate or incomplete data entry contributed to delayed treatment, incorrect referrals, patient-safety incidents or financial overpayments. [39814/26]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the HSE to reply directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1438. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any independent audit has assessed the cumulative national risk posed by fragmented or inconsistent data-quality controls across HSE systems. [39815/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1439. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether regional HSE bodies operate under uniform national data-quality standards and escalation mechanisms; and if she will provide details of any regional variation. [39816/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1440. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health who holds ultimate accountability within the HSE for national data-quality assurance and human-error mitigation across clinical and operational systems. [39817/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1441. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal risk assessment, service review, or operational assessment identified the absence of SCAN nurses in the HSE Mid-West as a deficiency, unmet service need, or patient-safety concern at any time since 2020. [39818/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1442. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health when the HSE first identified the need for dedicated SCAN nurses in the HSE Mid-West region. [39819/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1443. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE conducted any benchmarking comparing SCAN coverage across HSE regions prior to approving funding for two SCAN nurses in the Mid-West. [39820/26]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
