Jennifer Carroll MacNeill
Dún Laoghaire · Fine Gael · Ireland
“It will be provided by a registered pharmacist in accordance with the relevant pharmacy legislation, including this Bill. Section 2 of the Bill makes various amendments to the Irish Medicines Board Act and the Pharmacy Act. Those amendments ensure that whole legislative framework is cross-referenced correctly.”
“We now have a common conditions service where you can go to a pharmacy instead of a GP to get a diagnosis and prescription for eight basic conditions like conjunctivitis or urinary tract infections - the kind of things that just come up in people's lives all the time. We would like to expand more and more what pharmacies can do.”
“In particular, the board will be focusing on aspects of menstrual health, on aspects of postpartum mental health, particularly in traumatic birth cases, on something we have overlooked for some time, which is endometriosis, on women who are finding it difficult to access services in different ways, as Senator Harmon suggested, and on more…”
“The extension to 41- to 45-year-olds could possibly be €5 million to €8 million because there are statistically fewer women in that bracket trying to conceive, so the numbers are higher. It really is a question of funding. I remind Senators that they have also asked me to fund various other programmes.”
“That followed confirmation from the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Health Products Regulatory Authority that the patch and ring are classified as medicinal products, not medical devices. That is just a correction there.”
“That is why we have put so much money into supporting them in different ways, including the conclusion of a €50 million increase to their fees and to provide for the opportunity to raise private funds in this way, for example, the common conditions service. I want to see pharmacists doing more.”
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“Ms Collison has been in CHI this past number of months doing a survey of parents, speaking to parents who wish to speak to her, and trying to better understand the patient experience by asking how they ended up on a waiting list, what was their experience and what has happened to date. I expect her report shortly. I did not publicise her name at an early stage because I wanted to give her the opportunity to get on with her work in a quiet and effective way and to give her the privacy to do that. It is very important to say that we did both of those things at that time. I expect to have that report very shortly. I will not address the spinal task force, which continues its work, as it is a question of time, but I do want to talk about the inquiry the Cabinet agreed to yesterday.”
“I commissioned this via the CEO of the HSE. It consists of an audit of governance and of equity in patient access and waiting list management, and that commenced in June. The audit is being undertaken by the HSE internal auditor. It is independent. I am told it is nearing completion and I expect the outcome shortly. It is really important to note that, at the time, I also asked for there to be a qualitative patient experience element to this. I asked Lily Collison, who is an advocate for spinal services, cerebral palsy and epilepsy, and who is, among many other things, a member of the HSE board, to complete that.”
“At an early stage in April, I had a very clear concern about the culture in orthopaedic services, as I know Deputies across the House had, including the way in which waiting lists have been managed to date and how that has operated. A month later we had the 2022 report, the unpublished report, and the Nayagam review is also under way, phase 2 of which is reviewing the service, including the governance. There is a series of different reports and I am conscious that, behind every one of those reports, there is a patient and there is a child. In response to the multiplicity of reports and in response to the concern I have about the culture and the waiting list management, I commissioned an audit the details of which we have not yet received. It is very important that we debate this when we do receive it. That audit has two elements.”
“Of course what we want is to have a future-looking system where everybody has confidence in the system. The difficulty with the issues of the past is that they must be addressed, there must be transparency, and it is very important to acknowledge that, while we try to look to the future and try to improve services, we also have to hear and understand the experience of the past and difficult experience of the current day. In April I stood in this House and we discussed the HIQA review of the governance of implantable medical devices in CHI, including the use of non-CE springs in Temple Street hospital. A month later we were here to discuss the Thomas independent external medical audit for Children's Health Ireland and pelvic osteotomy.”
“These are things that can be done and I have said this in the House before. To support improvement, we have appointed a spinal patient advocate liaison co-ordinator. There is a patient panel for spinal services to try to improve communication. There are 14 members on that panel at the moment. A key worker, or patient advocate function, is also being rolled out. I am saying to Deputies that there have been efforts made to try to improve communication. While I understand from parents that the benefit of this is not yet universal, steps are being taken and we have more work to do on it, which, essentially, is what I am trying to say in a truncated way to make the all of the points that I hope to make. I will address some of the different reviews and issues that are occurring more broadly in CHI historically.”
“I am, however, concerned about the children with complex cases who may need several procedures and who may need very significant multidisciplinary support. I am also concerned about the communication. This is something that families have repeatedly expressed to Deputies across this House as being very challenging for them. I have made it clear that the nature, the style and the promptness of communications has to change. The way in which families are discussing surgeries, surgical interventions and the overall plan for their child is everybody's responsibility, and it is not to be approached in a siloed way. It is difficult for us to build a new theatre and to recruit a new surgeon, to be fair, but it is not difficult to pick up the phone to talk to somebody properly and in a comprehensive and timely way about the needs of their child.”
“That improvement is ensuring children are seen more quickly. While we absolutely must acknowledge progress, we also cannot mask the ongoing reality that too many children are still waiting and that too many children with complex cases are still waiting. Up to the end of October this year there have been an additional 462 children, or 8%, who have been added to the active surgical waiting list. It does reflect a growing need and it reflects a better referral pathway, but it is still children who need spinal surgeries. There is also a shift in the complexity of cases presenting at CHI because non-complex cases are now being referred to other hospitals to be done more quickly. That in itself is a good thing.”
“Further, at the end of October, only 6% of patients were waiting 12 months, which again is an improvement on 16% at this time last year. Again, at the end of October, 38% of patients were waiting within the Sláintecare targets, although I would like that to be substantially increased. I will acknowledge all of the difficulties, the challenges and frustrations that I have but I will also acknowledge the progress that has been made and which we want to see continuing to improve. I am also seeing improvements in the outpatient wait list. The children without an appointment to date on the new outpatient waiting list has reduced by 48% since the start of the year. I am informed by CHI that currently there is no child waiting over nine months without an appointment for a new outpatient appointment.”
“In 2024, CHI performed 513 spinal procedures, which was a 10% increase on 2023 and 35% increase on 2019. Already in 2025, 446 procedures have been completed, which is an 8% increase on last year. There is growth and there is more activity. Also, this year there has been an 8% increase in referrals and at this time we are 7% behind target. So, the picture is yet to improve but there are also an increase in referrals. What matters most, of course, is the length of time that children are waiting on the procedure. There has been an improvement in the longest wait lists. At the end of October 68% of patients on the active list were waiting less than six months, which is an improvement on last year, which was 56%.”
“Since April 2024, over 800 new patients have been seen in those clinics and that has reduced the time to be seen by a consultant in addition to the dedicated referral pathways. Domestic outsourcing arrangements have also been expanded, using pathways to Blackrock and Cappagh more quickly for non-complex spinal procedures. Over 74 children have used those pathways since the beginning of this year. As I said, we have tried to expand the international option. In regard to these initiatives and investment, while I have expressed a measure of frustration with the pace and wanting to do more, I need to acknowledge all of the dedicated team - the nurses, anaesthetists, surgeons and so on - who are doing the work and that there are surgeries happening . We know children are getting surgeries and it is at an increasing rate.”
“From an operational level within CHI, the pediatric spinal surgery management unit was established last year. It is a dedicated unit to try to co-ordinate surgeries better across Temple Street, Crumlin and Cappagh hospitals. It is working more closely with multidisciplinary teams to do that. Efforts to expand capacity within CHI progress and, indeed, will be the subject of my dialogue with it tomorrow, including ring-fenced theatres and dedicated orthopaedic beds. To be fair, that implementation has in fact reduced the waiting times for spinal surgeries in general. Additional outpatient clinics have also begun to assess new patients more promptly and that is both necessary and helpful.”
“At the moment we have the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and we have Great Ormond Street Hospital but CHI has gone through a tender process during the past number of months, at the direction of the Department of Health and at my direction, to try to expand opportunities internationally. That is bring finalised shortly and I believe it will involve multiple additional hospitals. The point I am making to the House is that if the experience to date has been that there has been an international option but it was not available to patients at the rate that might be suggested with 19 out of 1,000, then it is essential that if we are providing additional international options, that there is a very clear understanding those options can and should be used. That is extremely important.”
“Yet, when I look at the system, what I see is 1,000 surgeries, essentially - 500 last year and slightly more than 500 this year - available for children who have needed surgery and in the period of 2024 to 2025 where the international outsourcing option was available only 19 of those 1,000 surgeries have been done internationally. From a systemic perspective, that does not ring true to me. That has been the case to date but we are trying to expand our international options to drive even further the opportunities to travel, both in Europe, and for additional surgeries in the United States.”
“It is a source of frustration to me that the number is not higher and it is a source of frustration to families who would like to travel and who either have not been offered the opportunity to do so or who believe they would have been suitable. I acknowledge that not every child is suitable for travel. There may be some for whom it is not suitable or who cannot travel. There is a tension here where I believe more should be done but there is a clinical element to those decisions and it is not appropriate for me, as Minister, to interfere with that on an individual clinical basis.”
“I believe it is problematic and regrettable that that intervention and step taken by my predecessor in 2024, for which posts were allocated and funded, in fact only began in 2025. It is now the case that those posts are all in recruitment because the service has begun and there has been a commitment by the Mater for that to begin, and those posts should all be fully in place during the first quarter of 2026. On international outsourcing, again my predecessor approved over €16 million for international outsourcing initiatives since 2024. That was designed to support earlier surgery for children with very complex cases to get the care they needed abroad as clinically appropriate. However, it is a source of great frustration to me that a total of only 19 children have been the beneficiary of that.”
“For example, in 2024 we agreed with the Mater hospital that it would conduct an enhanced transitional service, adding to the transitional services already in place, and indeed it was funded to do so. An additional 29.5 posts were approved for the Mater hospital to enhance the adolescent transitional spinal service and try to improve the seamlessness with which transitional care would occur. It was only at the beginning of the second half of 2025 that this service began to operate, which I think is deeply regrettable. I know from my engagement with patients and parents that the service is, in fact, operating, and that there have been, I think, four outpatient clinics to date in the Mater during the second half of 2025, and three surgeries have been scheduled.”
“In 2024, my predecessor ensured 52 new full-time equivalent posts were approved to strengthen services, including surgeons, nursing staff, administrative staff, and all of the different pieces of that, including four orthopaedic surgeons, one of whom has been in post since August of this year. Of course, we would like to recruit all four but we have only been able to recruit one to date. Some 41 of the 52 staff are in post and we are actively trying to recruit the rest, especially at consultant level. It is important to say we have tried to increase capacity in a range of different ways, both domestically within CHI and internationally. Let me address some of the complexities of the issues I have seen as Minister.”
“I want to acknowledge that the efforts that have been put in so far have yielded tangible progress and I also acknowledge the dedication of the nursing team, the healthcare professionals, the multidisciplinary teams and, indeed, the surgeons who are delivering better outcomes than we have had before. In this House, we are dealing with patients on a day-to-day basis and we know we need to go further and do better. There has been a significant focus on investment for those services. There has been new infrastructure. We have a fifth theatre in Temple Street, an additional MRI scanner in Crumlin, and 24 additional new beds.”
“I want to say that as a general opening statement and invitation to all. As we know, scoliosis affects about 1% of children and adolescents in Ireland. Many of those children do not, in fact, require surgery but for those who do, timely access to intervention and treatment is critical. For those children who need surgical intervention, we agree the waiting times are too long. I am acutely aware of the burden that long wait places on those young patients and it can make their situation very much more difficult. Improving access to spinal surgery has been the focus of sustained and determined efforts over several years by several Ministers for Health and we have not fully reached our goals.”
“Deputies will appreciate we do all of this scheduling in a particular way and it is not perfect. Tomorrow I will be meeting CHI on two issues. One is the children's hospital and the second is yet another meeting in relation to what is happening on spinal services and what has happened since our last meeting. One of the things I will want to look at most closely is the specific care plan for all of those children who are at the level of most complexity in the system. There are certain GDPR constraints to the information that can be shared with me but I have several cases on my desk, as I know other Deputies have. There is a real openness here to get to an understanding that the most complex children can get the care and intervention they need in a timely and appropriate way.”
“I want to assure patients and families I have heard what they have said to me and that their perspective is vital in ensuring the reforms we know must be ongoing to ensure better, timely care. I also say to Members of this House that I, like them, am the recipient of people coming to me with complex cases; cases where there is a sense that intervention is necessary now, that intervention has been too late and that there is a difficulty with communication. In my case, as Minister, I can take those cases up with the National Patient Safety Office and have them advanced and I know that has been the case with some of the people who have come to me and brought cases to me. I wish to say to Deputies that there is an open invitation to my door to anybody who wants or needs to bring a case to my attention.”
“I have tried to place a significant and systemic focus on productivity, generally in our hospitals, but in this most acute area of need of pediatric spinal services. All of us do this because we are concerned about the children on whom this impacts. We are concerned about their quality of life, the nature of the supports and interventions they get and the necessity for those to be timely. In particular, I thank all of the patients, families and advocacy groups I have spoken to at different times throughout this year because, while we speak about numbers, initiatives and reforms what we are speaking about, of course, are children - patients - many of whom have quite complex medical conditions, a multiplicity of medical conditions, and who need very great care.”
“It is not, in fact, something that comes to a Minister's desk, nor should it come to a Minister's desk. It should be investigated separately and appropriately. If we had a Minister like me or anybody else who was interfering in a curious sort of way in what was in the mailbox, that would raise important confidence issues in that Minister. It is important to be clear in relation to that and I thank the House for indulging me in that way. Much more importantly, on the question of paediatric spinal surgery waiting lists, which is the subject of our discussion today, I wish to thank all the Members of the House who have engaged with me on this in the past number of months since I became Minister for Health.”
“It is a separate, dedicated, secure mailbox, one that I do not see or have access to, nor do my private secretaries. The purpose of maintaining that separation is exclusively for the protection of whistleblowers. I know it was mentioned that this represented a lack of curiosity on my part but I would say to the House that if I or any other Minister were to start checking what is coming into the protected disclosures mailbox, it would create a completely new and different problem for whistleblowers. It would undermine the idea of there being a protected channel specifically for that. I know the House is already aware of that because of its support for the Act but I wish to put beyond doubt the need to protect whistleblowers and the reason for those steps.”
“I thank the House for the opportunity to discuss what is a most important issue to all of us. At the outset, it is important that I clarify a technical piece in relation to protected disclosures and how they work. I am conscious that it was the subject of debate among the leaders last week, which I totally understand, but it is important that the House has clarity on it. The Protected Disclosures Act was agreed by this House without a vote. Everybody supports the idea of it and the purpose of it is to protect whistleblowers. It creates an obligation on the Minister to establish a channel on their website and an email process for whistleblowers to be able to make disclosures. That exists in the Department of Health. On the website, it is very clear that this is a channel to reach the protected disclosures commissioner.”
“Men's health matters because improving men's health benefits not just men but has an important ripple effect for women, for children's health and for wider communities. By improving men's health we aim to ensure our policies not only improve men's health outcomes but also help shape a more equitable and a more compassionate nation. We have witnessed notable improvements in the health and life-expectancy of our male population but men's health remains an area that requires really focused attention and sustained policy action which we will take. Today, I ask all the men listening to take a step, book a checkup, talk to a friend and seek support. They matter and their health matters. Men's health matters and I am very glad we are having statements on this today.”
“I am determined to support our 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. We know, however, that rigid gender norms can harm everyone. Sometimes, they can discourage men from seeking help and from expressing vulnerability, or they can reinforce inequalities that negatively affect women, families and communities. By engaging men in conversations about gender equality broadly, we create opportunities for men to become the same partners in building a fairer, healthier society, which is of benefit to everyone. Just like women's health, men's health is everyone's business.”
“Funding for the male pelvic cancer survivorship programme was provided through Healthy Ireland and is currently being piloted in Cork and Dublin. Over the past year, close to 180 patients across both areas have been enrolled in survivorship clinics. These services are advanced nurse practitioner-led with clinical nurse specialists and consultant urologist supports. Work is under way at a European level on prostate screening which aims to explore the feasibility of a risk-stratified screening programme to help reduce morbidity and mortality caused by the disease. We will consider any proposed expansion of the screening through the established evidence-driven protocols which we use, namely, the national screening advisory committee, which is our independent expert group that provides advice to me on screening programmes and their expansion.”
“It really is a conversation that matters. The men's health action plan targets specific issues like men's mental health and suicide prevention, men's chronic disease preventing and improving the health service uptake among men. It also places a stronger focus on health equity, meaning we will prioritise interventions for men who are most vulnerable, whether due to socioeconomic disadvantage, social inclusion or minority status. While Healthy Ireland leads on the implementation of men's health, there is also a significant focus on men's health within the national cancer control programme, the national screening service, and the National Office for Suicide Prevention. Male pelvic cancer survivorship and rehabilitation programmes are a key part of cancer survivorship pathways and they significantly improve patient outcomes.”
“The impact of male-specific cancers is also well-documented and the incidences of both prostate and testicular cancer, particularly in young men, are on the increase. Therefore, we have a lot to recognise. We have to acknowledge that some groups of men experience a disproportion burden of ill-health compared to other men. Men in the most deprived communities of Ireland are one and a half times more likely to die prematurely, compared to the most affluent men, which is not right. They are also almost three and a half times more likely to die by diseases of the respiratory system, diseases of the circulatory system, accidents and suicides. For example, life expectancy for a Traveller man is 15 years less than the general male population. This is a reality that we must confront with action and compassion.”
“We know men in Ireland today are living longer and healthier lives than previous generations but they continue to bear a disproportionate burden of illness and premature mortality and, as a recent report published by Movember stated, "too many men are dying too young." While the gap between male and female life expectancy has narrowed in recent times, male life expectancy still falls behind women by 3.5 years in Ireland. The research tells us that 40% of all male deaths, prior to 75 years of age, in 2022 were considered premature. These deaths were 40% higher among males compared to women in Ireland. These are not just numbers, however. They are our fathers, our brothers, our sons and our friends.”
“I welcome this opportunity to speak on men's health, which is a priority in the programme for Government. In 2009, Ireland was the first country in the world to develop a national men's health policy. The men's health policy sets out a comprehensive and, I hope, ambitious framework with a series of objectives aimed at improving men's health. It was followed by two action plans. One was published in 2017, with a more recent one published in 2024. A clear commitment in the programme for Government, which I was proud to be involved in negotiating, is to increase literacy and raise awareness among men and boys about the importance of physical, mental and emotional health.”
“As regards radiation replacement therapy, we have a capital programme more broadly and I will specifically look at radiation within that.”
“I have literally just come from Crumlin where I met some of the new consultant radiologists who have come here from other countries in anticipation of the children's hospital. I am meeting the chief people officer after the statements on men's health in respect of some of the vacancies. On our cancer strategy, the Deputy is right to identify regional variance, which is one of the very many reasons we are shifting the funding model this year to a letter of determination to the HSE that focuses both on inputs and outputs, specifically trying to better achieve harmony, equity and regional equity of access around all the different areas, recognising that cancer services in particular are lagging too far behind in some areas while others are performing extremely well. The Deputy is right to identify it.”
“Like everybody else here, Simon Harris is a committed public representative. He is here to serve his constituents, his community and the Irish State. He entered politics at a young age for good reasons and he has devoted his adult professional life to serving his community. We are all here because we too are committed to the people whom we represent. We all act in good faith. The Government has a substantial body of work to improve spinal services and orthopaedic services more broadly in CHI. While steps have been made that have been noted here, I commit, as everybody else should, to improving the services.”
“While I have so much respect for so many different areas of specialisms in CHI, such as oncology and cardiology, there has been, and continues to be, difficulties in the orthopaedic section in CHI, where we have got to change not just the practices and improve the processes, but also implement a real cultural change in listening to, respecting and responding to parents. I assure every Member in this House and anybody watching that I am putting every element of my energy and good faith into trying to improve that. Deputy Simon Harris, the Tánaiste, is working with me to help to do that. He and I met parents and advocates very recently. We have responded to them by private correspondence. He and I will meet them again at their convenience in the next number of weeks.”
“Like others, I want to first acknowledge the parents of Harvey Morrison Sherratt and all of the parents who were in the audiovisual room yesterday. I thank them for working with me and for engaging with me and indeed all of the advocates who are bringing to me the issues of today and yesterday. We will work together to devise the correct structure to enable a proper inquiry into the work that has happened and not happened in the CHI orthopaedic section. One of the most important comments I heard yesterday is that parents are nearly never wrong. I know that experience and that expression to be correct. Parents know what their children need.”
“As the Deputy is aware, this year's capital plan includes an upgrade and extension to the oncology day ward at University Hospital Kerry, with a vertical extension over the existing palliative care ward. The scope includes 14 day treatment cubicles, two treatment isolation rooms and seven outpatient consultation rooms. That is really important. In addition to that, we are shifting the way in which financing is determined this year to try to achieve better regional equity of access and better equity across the regions in terms of treatment times. We are specifically making a shift in how money is allocated and the way in which the letter of determination works.”
“It would be fantastic if other Deputies could make it very clear that the contractor has a responsibility to the State, in terms of this project and every other project in which it is engaged, and to its international reputation as well.”
“I thank the Deputy. As I said clearly, responsibility for delivering this hospital is with the contractor. The State - the Deputy and me, and the people we represent - is paying the contractor to complete the contract on time. It would be very helpful for everybody to be aware that we together are paying a contractor that is not delivering its commitments on time for this State and for all the people in this State. It is essential that it does. I am holding the contractor seriously to account for the dates that it sets and it moves. Our hospital development board is trying to hold that contractor to account. The Government is clearly doing that by articulating it in this way.”
“-----the excellent general manager there, Maria Barry, who is doing extraordinary work not just in terms of the trolleys but also in terms of waiting times. In regard to the scale of investment in terms of construction, I was there recently to see the excellent work being done by the general manager and HSE Estates.”
“Deputy Michael Murphy has raised this with me a number of times. He has been a strong advocate for this. As Deputy Healy said, the position has been advertised. Unfortunately, it was not possible to fill it on the first occasion. I very much hope that it will be filled on the second occasion. We are committed to Tipperary and I would like to compliment-----”
“We are considering all three options, as I said very publicly on Monday in Limerick in front of everyone, including the media.”
“As I said when I was in the hospital in Limerick, all three options are being considered. Naturally, our priority is the acute in-bed capacity, which is what HIQA identified as the priority. We are trying to progress that. A total of 96 beds were opened this week. While that will not take 96 people out of the emergency department, because some people will stay for three, four or five days, I see it having an impact on trolley numbers already in the past seven days. There is a reduction but it will not eradicate the overall number on trolleys. What will do so is the next 96 beds and the beds to come after that. Thankfully, we got planning permission last week for the next 96-bed block, which is really important. We will have essentially doubled the number of beds in the region between 2020 and 2028.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this. I have raised it with the board of the HSE and with the chief people officer of the HSE who I will meet shortly to better track where the difficulties are. It is not always a difficulty of the HSE. Sometimes it is simply difficult to get candidates and certainly on the public health nurse side we have had to increase the incentives in a number of different ways to try to recruit more people but it is something, in a general sense, I am watching carefully and I appreciate the Deputy raising it.”
“James's by over 18%, significantly reduced the plastics waiting list, which means breast reconstruction for 21% more people than had been the case before, and reduced the pain management list in James's by 81%. It is very important. In 2026, we will open 172 new acute beds, 324 community beds, and we will open the four new surgical hubs in Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford. We are also expanding virtual acute wards in five locations, Galway, Mercy hospital Cork, Kilkenny, Drogheda and Tullamore.”
“Medicine expenditure, both in hospitals and how we support in communities through the drugs payment scheme, exceeded €3 billion last year. That is twice the budget of the Department of Defence. It is an enormous investment in our people all the time. This year, we are allocating an additional €217 million to our medicines spend, including €30 million specifically for new drug approvals. One of my priorities is increasing capacity. That means more beds, more surgical hubs, which we are seeing, and more digital and virtual services. We have seen the 96-bed ward. We have had 201 beds open this year. The surgical hub in Mount Carmel is making a huge difference. It has reduced the day case waiting list in St.”
“To truly deliver better patient incomes, we have to invest not only in treatment but in prevention, so we are expanding screening, vaccination and action on smoking and substance misuse. RSV infant immunisation has reached 88% uptake on the maternity sites, but it is only 40% in the community programme. We will try to bring this back in once the flu vaccine is stood up. We will incorporate this into the primary care vaccination programme in 2026. CervicalCheck screening has the third highest uptake in Europe, combined with the HPV vaccination, which is at 73%, which is one of the highest in Europe, though we want it to be 90%. Combined with that, we are on a path to eliminating cervical cancer. We are expanding breast cancer screening and we are making bowel screening much more accessible, including through the new pharmacy contract.”
“There are important examples from different hospitals that I would love to go through in great detail. We need that consistency across the health service. We are trying to get better bang for the money we put in. Beaumont Hospital has reduced the number of people waiting on trolleys by 30% despite a nearly 6% increase in attendances. In community services, I am aware that families face real challenges accessing community care. Therapy waiting lists show stark regional differences. The west and north west perform best in occupational and speech therapy, while Dublin and north east lead in physiotherapy, whereas the south west and Dublin midlands need to improve in these specialisms.”
“We need consistency across all our sites to ensure equitable care. On waiting times more broadly, we are expanding access to services seven days a week. Our early results show that reforms are delivering in some places, with shorter waits, faster discharges and better outcomes for patients. For example, at the Mater hospital, 81% of consultants are on the public-only consultant contract. The fact that they are being routinely rostered on Saturdays has helped us to achieve a 39% drop in the trolley numbers there in the early part of this year. We are also seeing actual use of theatres and certain outpatient clinics happening at the weekend. In Drogheda, three of the seven theatres are in use at weekends. Gynaecology and surgical work has been done there since August 2025.”