I thank the Deputy for raising this really important topic. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister. The Government acknowledges many patients are waiting too long for care, but we are committed to improving access to hospital care and reducing waiting times for patients, including through the multi-annual action plan approach. Building on the progress made to date, we will continue to focus on reducing waiting times for scheduled care in our hospitals through a range of measures, including service reforms and innovation, as well as targeted increases in capacity. The Government is also committed to increasing elective care capacity across Ireland to ensure high-quality and timely scheduled care is available to all. In order to meet medium-term demand, we are delivering the first phase of increased elective capacity through a national network of surgical hubs. The two surgical hubs at Tallaght and Mount Carmel in south Dublin are already open and are having a real impact on day case waiting lists. There are due to be five more surgical hubs opened in 2026 at Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and in north Dublin. Hubs at Sligo and Letterkenny will then follow, with design for both now under way. In the longer term, and to meet the needs of our growing and ageing population - the Deputy is right to note it is ageing - we are also delivering a national network of elective treatment centres in Cork, Dublin and Galway. These new facilities will make a real difference to those who are waiting for access to elective treatments while also freeing up capacity in other hospitals to deal with more complex and emergency cases. Patients in the midlands will have access to these elective treatment centres on an equal basis to everyone else in the country, that is, based on clinical need. This will help to reduce waiting times for elective procedures and ultimately lead to a more efficient and responsive system for everyone. Long waiting times are not unique to the hospital system, however. To address the long waiting times for primary care therapy services, the Department of Health is currently engaging with the HSE on a focused approach to these waiting lists. Under this programme of work, in September last year the Minister asked the HSE to put measures in place to address the long waiting lists for physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. This is expected to remove over 60,000 people from these three waiting lists throughout the country. In addition, to ensure the necessary resources are available to maintain waiting lists below that target, the HSE is prioritising recruitment of permanent staff to primary care therapy services, with approval of an additional 200 whole-time equivalents in the national service plan for 2026. It is therefore about recruitment too, which the Deputy spoke about, through the different areas. An additional 12 posts have been allocated to the midlands integrated healthcare area, including posts to address vacancies in occupational therapy and physiotherapy for children’s services in Offaly and Laois. I am also very pleased to advise that additional primary care infrastructure is in development in County Offaly following on from the opening of primary care centres in Tullamore and Banagher in recent years. Birr primary care centre is due to open in the first half of this year. It will include an extensive GP practice and allow the HSE to consolidate its primary care and mental health services under one roof, and this will be of real benefit to the people in the area. The Edenderry PCC is in the early planning stage and a planning application was submitted for this development to Offaly County Council this month. All of these measures are showing significant investment in the area and will have a very positive impact on the people of the midlands.

Sentiment score: 0.36

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I assure him the Government is committed to providing access to the best care for the people of Ireland. We are clear that no matter where the facilities are located, everyone should have access to adequate and appropriate care based on their needs. Through the delivery of this programme, we are increasing capacity to meet short- and long-term needs, but the surgical hubs and elective treatment centres together will form a national network. These facilities will enable the delivery of care for all patients. Geography will not be a barrier. Instead, consultants and other doctors will be able to refer on the basis of patient need. I see where the Deputy is coming from but the Minister welcomes the news that the development of the primary care infrastructure in County Offaly is progressing, offering a real example of the investment the Government is making in community-based health infrastructure, providing a single point of access to healthcare services for patients. I assure the Deputy that there is currently no barrier to recruitment to primary care services and an additional 200 staff for primary care therapy services have been prioritised in the HSE national service plan. I assure the Deputy that I will be speaking to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, tomorrow and I will highlight the concerns Deputy Clendennen raised tonight. I thank him for raising this important issue.

Sentiment score: 0.49

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter in the House this evening. The Minister for Health shares his concerns about the protection of older adults against influenza. For those in recommended groups, the influenza vaccine reduces the risk of serious illness and death from flu. Ensuring high vaccine coverage is a priority in order to reduce severe illness from influenza, RSV and Covid-19 over the winter period. Ireland’s immunisation programme is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee, NIAC. The committee's recommendations are based on the prevalence of a disease in Ireland and international best practice. NIAC routinely revises recommendations to facilitate the introduction of new vaccines and to keep on top of changing patterns of disease. Therefore, the immunisation schedule will continue to change over time. The vaccination programme provides a free flu vaccine to those most vulnerable to the impact of flu. Every year, the WHO reviews global surveillance data and recommends the specific strains that manufacturers should include in the season's vaccines based on the flu strains that are considered most likely to circulate. All licensed influenza vaccines included for the 2025-26 season comply with WHO and NIAC recommendations. In 2024, HIQA carried out an enhanced flu vaccine health technology assessment, which found there were limited studies on the effectiveness of enhanced flu vaccines, along with a lack of data over multiple seasons. Due to the variability of seasonal influenza, a single study may misrepresent average vaccine effectiveness. Based on the limited data, the HTA determined that switching from a standard to an enhanced flu vaccine for those aged 65 and older was likely to reduce the burden of flu. However, whether such a switch would represent a good use of public money would depend on the price of enhanced vaccines when compared with the standard flu vaccine. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, ECDC, reported overall low to moderate relative vaccine effectiveness for the enhanced influenza vaccine against laboratory-confirmed influenza-related hospitalisations. It concluded that evidence specific to the relative effectiveness of enhanced influenza vaccines when compared with standard vaccines was still limited and that further studies were necessary to allow more substantial conclusions on the potential benefits of enhanced influenza vaccines. The HSE is responsible for the procurement of vaccines in line with EU and national procurement rules. It was asked to commence a tender process to determine if enhanced flu vaccines could be purchased at a cost-effective price and within its existing budget. It carried out an analysis of the tenders received and on 4 February 2025 advised the Department of Health that neither of the available enhanced vaccines for older people met the criteria set out in the HTA for net monetary benefit compared with the standard flu vaccine. The HIQA HTA estimates that procurement of the enhanced influenza vaccines would cost between €4 million and €19 million per year. However, the actual costs remain commercially confidential and are not known until tenders are evaluated each year. Decisions regarding increased spending in one area could impact the provision of other technologies and treatments in the healthcare system. Therefore, cost-effectiveness must be considered in any decision-making process. It is important that the Department and the HSE adhere to the value-for-money obligation set out by the Department of public expenditure in relation to the efficient and effective use of public funds and resources.

Sentiment score: -0.04

Certainly, I will get those answers for the Deputy. I am pleased to note that in this flu season, the uptake rate for the vaccine among adults aged 60 and older was 66%, and for fair deal residents it was 83%, which is high. This is very positive and has been a factor in ensuring hospital and trolley numbers for flu this year are lower than previous years. It is important that we protect ourselves and each other from infection during the winter season by availing of the flu vaccine when it is offered. The introduction of an enhanced vaccine can be reconsidered when the cost effectiveness is more favourable. I will get the Deputy those answers. I urge all those who are eligible for any vaccine under the national immunisation programme, at all stages of life, to take the opportunity to be vaccinated. It is important that we tell anyone who needs to get their vaccine that they need to get that as soon as possible. Again, I thank the Deputy for highlighting this matter. I will certainly bring his questions back to the Minister and get answers, particularly with regard to children. It is important we look at that again. I thank him for raising this very important topic tonight.

Sentiment score: 0.27