Written Answers Nos. 857-876
857. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Health if additional resources or recruitment initiatives are planned to increase the availability of home support staff in south Tipperary, given the current shortage of health care assistants and rising demand for services. [54929/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
858. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Health to outline the funding allocation for home support services in south Tipperary in each of the past three years; and whether additional funding will be made available in budget 2026 to meet increasing demand. [54930/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
859. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Health if the HSE has undertaken any targeted recruitment campaigns for healthcare assistants in the south-east community healthcare area; and, if so, to provide details of the outcomes and timelines for deployment of additional staff. [54931/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
860. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Health if her Department will consider establishing a specific retention and recruitment initiative to support rural and regional home support services, including in Clonmel, where staff shortages are acute. [54932/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
861. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Health for an update on the new primary care centre in Nenagh; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54938/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
862. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Health the total number of job posts anticipated for the Nenagh primary care centre; the total number of new posts anticipated for the Nenagh primary care centre; if she will provide a breakdown of these new posts by job title or position; when and where these new posts will be advertised; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54939/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
863. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Health the number of acute inpatient beds allocated to Mayo University Hospital in each year from 2015 to 2025, in tabular form, to include any changes in bed capacity over the period; and to specify whether the hospital's acute bed capacity has increased, decreased or remained static year on year. [54947/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
864. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has engaged with CORU on the proposed changes in regulations for psychotherapists and counsellors, which include the removal of mandatory personal therapy and clinical supervision, along with the creation of a rigid separation between counselling and psychotherapy; if her Department has concerns over these changes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54948/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, CORU is Ireland’s multiprofession health and social care regulator. CORU’s role is to protect the public by regulating the health and social care professions designated under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 (as amended).
Counsellors and psychotherapists perform a vital role, providing therapeutic care to often vulnerable people. Regulation is being introduced to these professions to protect the public, ensuring that care provided is of a consistently high standard and always by suitably qualified individuals.
The Counsellors and Psychotherapists Registration Board (CPRB) was established in 2019 and since that time has been working to progress regulation of both professions.
The CPRB undertook extensive research, analysis, and public consultation to introduce regulation of each profession for the first time. The public consultation process received over 700 submissions, including educators, professional bodies and existing practitioners. This comprehensive process recognised the differences in scope and complexity of practice between the two professions and ensures that the threshold standards and qualification levels set for each accurately reflect the competencies required for safe and effective practice, while strengthening public protection. This consultation process has been published by CORU and is available on their web site.
In July 2025 CORU published two key documents for each of these professions.
• Standards of Proficiency: These outline the threshold knowledge and skills required for entry to the register. They define what a counsellor or psychotherapist must be able to do at the point of entry into practice.
• Criteria for Education and Training Programmes: These set out the systems and processes education providers must implement in the design and management of education and training programmes. They provide assurance that all graduates have achieved all the Standards of Proficiency upon successful completion of an education and training programme.
The adopted Standards and Criteria reflect the threshold knowledge and skills required for safe practice at entry to the professions of Counselling and Psychotherapy. The introduction of consistent standards for the education and training of counsellors and psychotherapists marks a significant milestone, ensuring that those seeking support can have confidence in accessing appropriately trained and qualified practitioners
On issues such as personal therapy and clinical supervision, CORU’s position is evidence-based and guided by proportionality.
I am confident that CORU’s work will bring clear benefits for public protection. The framework has been designed to strengthen standards of practice while ensuring that training pathways and workforce supply are not adversely affected.
I am assured that CORU will continue to engage closely with education providers, professional bodies, and other stakeholders as the regulatory process advances, keeping public protection at the centre of this work.
I am eager to see this work progressed so that two very important professions are finally regulated, in the interest of public protection.
865. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health if she will address the delays faced by a person (details supplied) in accessing support from CAMHS; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54952/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy RE:CAMHS issue in question as soon as possible.
866. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health to respond to matters raised in correspondence (details supplied); to outline in detail the procedures undertaken by her Department for medical evacuations from Gaza; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54953/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI thank the Deputy for his question in relation to medical evacuations from Gaza to Ireland.
I can advise that Ireland continues a strong tradition of providing humanitarian assistance including through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Irish Aid humanitarian and development assistance programme, and the HSE Global Health Programme.
In September 2024, a Government decision was made that Ireland would evacuate up to 30 paediatric patients from Gaza (under 17 years of age) and their carers out of Egypt, in response to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) request to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) to assist in addressing the Gaza healthcare needs through medical evacuation.
On 15 July 2025, the Government amended the scope of the Gaza Medevac Initiative to allow for family members of paediatric patients that are parents, minor siblings or adult dependent siblings of the patient, on grant of visas, permission to enter the State. This decision not only applies to future medical evacuation operations but also to the families already here under the Medevac Initiative who have qualifying family members still in Gaza.
To date, 12 paediatric patients, their carers and a further 21 family members have been medically evacuated out of Egypt to Ireland in two medevac operations in December 2024 and May 2025.
My Department is working with all relevant Government Departments, agencies and international bodies towards a medical evacuation out of Gaza via Jordan in the near future. This is subject to all permissions and logistics being put in place. Such a medical evacuation is highly complex and many determining factors are subject to challenging and shifting external circumstances.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza has the primary role of selecting patients for medical evacuation overseas. In consultation with WHO and other partners, the Ministry for Health in Gaza developed a strict set of criteria for selecting patients to be evacuated.
In addition to the process for patient selection for the WHO-approved lists, each country participating in the UCPM with medical evacuation has its own process for patient selection from the WHO-approved lists. Only paediatric patients are considered for the Irish Gaza Medevac Initiative, as is the case with many other European countries carrying out medical evacuations. Paediatric patients are selected by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) from the WHO medevac approved list, strictly subject to treatment capacity in the HSE and CHI.
Once CHI has confirmed that the selection criteria is met, and offers of medical evacuation are accepted by the patients and their parents or carer, relevant authorities work to secure all required documentation to allow the patient and their family members to be evacuated and plans are drawn up to carry out the complex medical evacuation in cooperation with key organisations on the ground and in Ireland.
While we are fully aware of the increasing numbers of patients from Gaza requiring medical evacuation, it is unfortunately not possible for my Department to consider direct requests or representations for inclusion of particular patients in future medevac operations.
It is important for the integrity of the Gaza Medevac initiative that patient selection be made by the HSE and CHI in line with the agreed process.
867. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health if she intends to fully fund the 2024–30 collaborative tuberculosis strategy for Ireland. [54966/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
868. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the level of expenditure on services from the association of ambulance chief executives, by the National Ambulance Service and the HSE, for 2020 to 2025, in tabular form. [54975/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
869. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Health if there are any technical, legal, operational or policy constraints preventing her Department, when publishing quarterly reports of payments or purchase orders over €20,000, from including additional columns that link each payment to its underlying procurement process, specifically tender or contract title, name and address of the awarded contractor or supplier, contract award date, contract duration, expected contract value excluding VAT, maximum contract value excluding VAT, and the unique identifier from the relevant contract award notice; and, where such constraints exist, to provide details explaining her Department's current process for reconciling each reported payment with the corresponding published contract award notice on eTenders. [55061/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department publishes details of purchases over €20,000 online quarterly in the required format, currently required in the Public Service Reform Plan. My Department will comply with any additional reporting requirements, if and when they arise.
870. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Health if all contracting authorities under the aegis of her Department are in full compliance with Circular 05/2023, in particular the mandatory requirement to publish contract award notices for all contracts above €25,000; and if she will provide details of the monitoring or enforcement arrangements in place to ensure this requirement is met. [55078/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Details for other bodies under the aegis of my Department are operational matters for the bodies concerned and the Deputy should contact the relevant Director/CEO/Registrar directly.
871. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Health the action being taken in hospitals to improve the awareness among healthcare staff of the needs of visually impaired patients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55105/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
872. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health when funding will be secured to establish a national chronic intestinal failure centre here, which is already established in the United Kingdom and other European countries; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55106/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
873. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1161 of 17 September 2025, if Ireland has a stockpile or contingency plan for essential medicines unavailable here (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55111/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere is a legislative provision for the supply of what are known as ‘exempt medicinal products’ (EMPs), in situations where no suitable authorised medicine is available. EMPs are medicines that are not nationally authorised by the HPRA or centrally authorised by the European Commission, however, they can be supplied by pharmacists in certain circumstances.
Specifically, EMPs can be supplied in response to a bona fide unsolicited order, formulated in accordance with the specifications of a practitioner for use by their individual patients on their direct personal responsibility to fulfil the special needs of those patients. If there is no suitable authorised medicine available in Ireland and a valid prescription is issued for an EMP in line with legislative requirements, an appropriately authorised wholesaler can source that product from another market for supply to the patient via their pharmacy in line with that prescription.
The legal basis for the supply of EMPs is set out in:
• Schedule 1 of the Medicinal Products (Control of Placing on the Market) Regulations 2007, as amended, and
• Medicinal Products (Control of Wholesale Distribution) Regulations 2007, as amended.
The Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) has advised that Praziquantel is not presently authorised as a medicinal product for human use in Ireland. The HPRA cannot require companies to market medicinal products in Ireland and we also have no role in relation to pricing and reimbursement. The HPRA would be willing at any stage to engage with and to provide regulatory guidance to any company who wishes to make medicinal products available in Ireland.
874. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Health if she is concerned that the recent increase in tax for vaping products coming into effect as of 1 November 2025 could have a knock-on increase in the number of cigarette smokers; the actions she will take to address these concerns; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55116/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraWhile taxation is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Finance I note that the e-liquid tax in Budget 2025, which will come into effect on the 1st November 2025, was introduced alongside greater increases in tobacco taxes in Budgets 2025 and 2026.
The immediate focus of health policy and legislation regarding vaping is on reducing youth uptake. Preventing smoking initiation and encouraging its cessation are an area of focus for my Department and has seen significant investment in recent years. Funding for the Quit Programme has greatly increased in the last three years, from €13 million in 2021 to €21 million in 2024. This includes more than doubling the number of stop smoking clinics, and the roll-out of free Nicotine Replacement Therapy in 2022. This has led to record numbers accessing the Quit Service, and higher rates of successful quit attempts.
The Tobacco Free Ireland policy is currently being updated. This process will set out a pathway to end the epidemic of smoking-related harm in our country and protect children and young people from the harms of nicotine use.
875. Deputy Mark Wall asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Kildare will receive the exam needed to practise in the medical profession here; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55128/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe PRES level 3 exams are facilitated and co-ordinated by the medical schools in Ireland on behalf of the Medical Council. The number of available places depends on the capacity and availability of the medical schools who run the exams. While I understand that the Medical Council has added two additional PRES 3 sessions in 2025, I am aware that not all applicants have been offered a place.
The Medical Council has advised that exam places are allocated according to priority. There are a number of priority categories including expiry of eligibility and the time the application was submitted. If a place becomes available, the Medical Council will contact the next applicant on the waiting list.
While waiting to sit the PRES 3, doctors who pass the PRES 2 or one of alternative overseas exams, can apply for a clinical observership with the HSE or if they are offered a supervised post by the HSE, they can apply for registration in the Supervised Division.
I appreciate the frustration of those who are waiting to sit the PRES 3 exam and the impact on the individuals concerned. The Medical Council is currently looking at options to address the increasing demand for PRES 3 exams and officials in my Department will continue to engage with the Council in this regard.
876. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive confirmation of their place on the list for a kidney transplant in Beaumont Hospital. [55129/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.
In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
