Written Answers Nos. 515-531
515. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to provide an explanation for the year-on-year decline in long-Covid clinic attendances nationally; and whether this reflects reduced referral activity, reduced capacity, or reduced demand. [50609/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
516. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has ever sought or received cumulative manganese exposure data from water suppliers broken down by age group or vulnerability category; the basis on which the 80 µg/L guideline value is considered adequate for infants, children, older persons and medically vulnerable groups, given that it is a general population threshold; whether the absence of a vulnerable-group-specific protocol for manganese exposure assessment appears on any HSE risk register or audit plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50610/26]
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.
517. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to the HSE's confirmation that no national dataset on returned medicines currently exists, whether the national medicines disposal service under CPA25 will record returned medicines as a defined, structured national dataset; to specify the data fields that dataset will capture; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50611/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra518. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether data on the volume, type and cost of medicines returned under the CPA25 disposal service will be published; the frequency of such publication; the date on which the first such report will issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50612/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra519. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the confirmed commencement date of the national medicines disposal service under CPA25, given the HSE's statement that the service is due to commence "over the summer" in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50613/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra520. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether a baseline estimate of the annual cost of unused, expired or otherwise wasted medicines will be established at the commencement of the CPA25 disposal service; the methodology to be applied; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50614/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 517, 518, 519 and 520 together.
Enabling patients to return their unused medicines to their local community pharmacy restricts access to unused medicines, thereby reducing the risk of suicide, self-harm and accidental poisoning in children. Improperly disposing of medicines impacts on crops, biodiversity and contaminates our water system. Antimicrobial resistance is a significant health challenge and incorrect disposal of antibiotics adds to this problem.
Traditionally community pharmacists have facilitated patients in returning unused medication to their pharmacy either on a good will basis, or in some cases on a paid for service basis. Additionally, there have been certain local or regional initiatives which aim to raise awareness among members of the public regarding appropriate ways to dispose of unused medicines and to encourage them to return their unused medication to their local pharmacies. These initiatives have been funded by the HSE on a time bound basis in certain areas but to date no national programme has been established.
The landmark Community Pharmacy Agreement (CPA) 2025 supports the delivery of safe, equitable, and efficient healthcare. Under the CPA, a new Unused Medicines Return and Disposal national service is being established which will enable patients to return their unused medicines to their local community pharmacy. Under the Agreement, a yearly allocation of €4,500,000 is being made available to provide for a HSE-tendered medicine disposal service from community pharmacies nationwide.
My officials, the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Irish Pharmacy Union are finalising preparations for this service. Onboarding of over 1,900 community pharmacies for the service will commence next week and continue through the month of July. A campaign to raise public awareness will follow in early August once onboarding is complete.
My Department, the Irish Pharmacy Union and the HSE are currently engaged in finalising data evaluation aspects, including publication considerations, for the service. Evaluation will be a tangible way to build a clear evidence base on the scale of unused and expired medicines. Over time, the disposal service will provide evidence on the types and volumes of medicines being returned, which will inform better prescribing practice, dispensing practice and public awareness measures. It will also support a more targeted approach to reducing waste, while also improving value for money, patient safety and environmental protection.
521. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether waste-reduction targets will be set on foot of the data collected under the CPA25 disposal service; the office responsible for owning and governing that dataset; whether that dataset features on any HSE risk register or audit plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50615/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
522. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the National Incident Management System or any other HSE data system contains a category, field or tag that identifies an incident, complaint or safeguarding concern as involving a privately contracted home support provider, as distinct from directly employed HSE staff; and if not, to confirm that incidents involving privately contracted home support providers cannot be separately identified or counted. [50624/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
523. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has conducted any audit or assurance check confirming that privately contracted home support providers actually report complaints, missed visits, safeguarding incidents and medication-related incidents to the HSE, given the Executive's stated expectation that such incidents "would be reported"; and to provide the findings of any such audit. [50625/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
524. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to identify the post within the HSE that holds responsibility for assuring that privately contracted home support providers report safeguarding and medication-related incidents; and whether the inability to extract such data from HSE systems is recorded on any risk register or audit plan. [50626/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
525. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health given the HSE's confirmation that there is no central logging system for contract breaches by staffing agencies on national framework agreements or supplier panels; the number of suppliers removed from those panels for non-compliance in each of the past three years; and the reason for each removal. [50627/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra526. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the information the on-site audits of agency supplier panel members record; where the findings of those audits are held; whether those findings are aggregated centrally; and if they are not aggregated, to explain how the HSE monitors repeat or pattern non-compliance across suppliers. [50628/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra531. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the date on which the HSE first began considering a centralised mechanism to record healthcare professionals subject to criminal investigation; whether a decision has now been made; and if not, the date by which a decision will be made. [50674/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra532. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No.1080 of 12 May 2026, whether her Department or the HSE has sought the outstanding data from HSE regions in respect of cases involving criminal investigation of healthcare staff since 2015; and the date on which that data was requested. [50675/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra533. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the date by which a complete national figure for healthcare staff subject to criminal investigation since 2015 will be available. [50676/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra537. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health given that HR Memo 015/2026 confirms administrative leave cases are monitored quarterly by the Chief People Officer and reported quarterly to the Chief Executive Officer, the reason a separate centralised reporting mechanism is required to record healthcare staff subject to criminal investigation rather than disaggregating the existing quarterly reporting. [50680/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 525, 526, 531, 532, 533 and 537 together.
As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
527. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the absence of a central logging system for staffing agency contract breaches is recorded on any HSE risk register, internal audit plan or corporate risk register; and the total expenditure on agency staffing through national supplier panels in each of the past three years. [50629/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
528. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if she will provide an update on the approval of the drug skyclarys in the reimbursement scheme; if all of the information and costings have been submitted by the supplier; and the indicative date for approval. [50630/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, the Health Service Executive (HSE), through its Senior Leadership Team has statutory responsibility for decisions on the pricing and reimbursement of medicines and medical devices.
The HSE has advised that it is committed to providing access to as many medicines as possible, in as timely a fashion as possible, from the resources available (provided) to it.
The HSE robustly assesses applications for pricing and reimbursement to make sure that it can stretch available resources as far as possible and to deliver the best value in relation to each medicine and ultimately more medicines to Irish citizens and patients.
To commence the pricing and reimbursement process, a pharmaceutical company must submit an application for a new medicine or a new use of an existing medicine, that has been granted European Medicines Agency (EMA) or Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) authorisation, to the HSE’s Corporate Pharmaceutical Unit.
Applicants must continue to engage through-out the process to ensure that the necessary evidence is available for the HSE to carry out its statutory role as a decision-maker with respect to the reimbursement of new medicines, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
In terms of the specific details of the application for pricing and reimbursement of omaveloxolone (Skyclarys®):
The HSE received an application for pricing and reimbursement of omaveloxolone (Skyclarys®) on the1st August 2024 from Biogen Idec (Ireland) Limited (the applicant) for the treatment of Friedreich’s ataxia in adults and adolescents aged 16 years and older.
• The first step in the process is the submission of a Rapid Review dossier (a clinical and economic dossier) to the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) for assessment. The HSE commissioned the Rapid Review process on the 2nd August 2024.
• The NCPE Rapid Review assessment report was received by the HSE on the 29th August 2024. The NCPE advised the HSE that a full Health Technology Assessment (HTA) was recommended to assess the clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness of omaveloxolone compared with the current standard of care.
• The HSE commissioned a full HTA on the 25th September 2024 as per agreed processes.
• The NCPE HTA Report was received by the HSE on the 16th December 2025. The NCPE recommended that omaveloxolone not be considered for reimbursement: [https://www.ncpe.ie/omaveloxolone-skyclarys-hta-id-24033/] .
• The HSE Corporate Pharmaceutical Unit (CPU) is the interface between the HSE and the Pharmaceutical Industry in relation to medicine pricing and reimbursement applications.
• Upon receipt of the HTA report on the 16th December 2025 the HSE immediately offered the company a suite of dates to attend a commercial meeting. The first commercial meeting was held on 12th February 2026 with a further meeting on the 18th May 2026.
• The HSE received a commercial proposal on the 27th May 2026 from the company Biogen(Idec)Ireland Limited. Following the conclusion of commercial negotiations the application will be progressed via the Drugs Group who will make a recommendation to the HSE Senior Leadership Team who have final decision making authority on whether to reimburse a medicine.
• The Drugs Group is the national committee which the HSE has in place to make recommendations on the pricing and reimbursement of medicines. The membership of the HSE Drugs Group includes public interest members. Pharmacoeconomic reports are reviewed by the HSE Drugs Group along with the outputs of commercial negotiations, and any patient group submission(s) received. The HSE Drugs Group considers all of the evidence and makes a recommendation to the HSE Senior Leadership Team.
• Skyclarys® is scheduled for consideration at the next Drugs Group meeting in July.
• The decision making authority in the HSE is the HSE Senior Leadership Team. The HSE Senior Leadership Team decides on the basis of all the demands it is faced with (across all services) whether it can fund a new medicine, or new use of an existing medicine, from the resources that have been provided to it in line with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
While the HSE cannot comment on commercial negotiations as these are commercially confidential, it will continue to process and assess the application as efficiently as possible. This application remains under consideration with the HSE.
529. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Health the number of European Health Insurance cards issued by the HSE in the past seven years to date in 2026; the median time in 2026 to dispatch cards from time of application; the number of instances in which the cards were used in the past three years and to date in 2026; and the liability and or costs incurred in respect of their use. [50632/26]
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.
530. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she is satisfied with the veracity of the credentials and qualifications of all her seven appointees to the Board of Dublin Dental Hospital, as announced on 26 May 2026 via her Department’s website; and whether she will guide her Department to publish the biographical summaries of the other three appointments whose details are not yet presented online (details supplied). [50673/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is a matter for me as Minister for Health to appoint members to the Board of Dublin Dental Hospital. In doing so, I am required to have regard to the provisions in the Dublin Dental Hospital (Establishment) Order 1963 and to the Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards, published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
All appointments to State Boards, other than appointments explicitly provided for in the Establishment Order are made from candidates identified through an independent process conducted by stateboards, part of the Public Appointments Service (PAS). The PAS has responsibility for providing an open, accessible, rigorous and transparent system to support Ministers in making appointments to State Boards. The PAS supports Government Departments to assist in the delivery of high-quality governance and accountability through the appointment of diverse, talented and committed board members who reflect the diversity of the society it serves.
Board Members of State Boards are appointed in their capacity as individuals who bring their expertise to bear in the functions of a Board, particularly those relating to high standards of corporate governance in State Agencies. The Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies describes the role of Board members as bringing an independent judgement to bear on issues of strategy, performance, resources, key appointments, and standards of conduct.
Following the process seeking suitable candidates, I have recently appointed a new Board for a four year term beginning on the 17th of February 2026.
I re-appointed one member to the new Board for another term in line with Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, 2014). This member had already gone through a previous selection process organised with the PAS. In line with the statutory provision, I appointed one Board member on the nomination of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The five remaining positions were filled through a process conducted by the PAS which advertised the vacancies on the 1st of October 2025. Applications were sought from candidates with expertise in (i) Corporate Governance and Risk Management, (ii) Human Resources and (iii) Legal Expertise.
With regards to the Board member biographies these are published on the website of my Department. In relation to the other biographical summaries, we are still awaiting these to be received from the respective candidates and I have instructed my Department officials to follow up on this. Once the relevant biographies have been received along with a consent to publish them my Department officials will arrange for these to be published on the Department of Health's website in due course.
