135. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Health the way in which she will ensure greater access to diagnostics in the evenings and weekends; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48061/26]

This Government recognises that timely access to diagnostics is essential to ensuring patients receive the care they need, when they need it.

There is a clear need to make greater use of diagnostic capacity across evenings and weekends to improve patient access, support earlier diagnosis and treatment, and contribute to reduced waiting times.

Providing services across a broader working week is a key commitment in the Programme for Government and a major reform deliverable under the Productivity and Savings Taskforce. The expansion of diagnostic capacity outside traditional working hours forms an important part of this work.

The Public Only Consultant Contract provides the contractual basis for consultant-led care across extended hours Monday to Friday and on Saturdays. In respect of non-consultant staff, a Framework Agreement is in place for extending working hours with trade unions, supporting the broader adoption of extended services.

Implementation of extended day and weekend services has now begun in various forms across the six health regions. For example, at University Hospital Limerick, additional rostering of consultants, radiographers and porters over an extended ten-day period delivered 272 additional CT scans, 60 additional MRI scans and 86 additional ultrasound examinations.

The focus now is to ensure that extended-day and weekend diagnostic services are delivered consistently across hospital sites so that patients can benefit from faster access to diagnostics and treatment.