1245. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Health the specific background checks, verification processes, and credential assessments carried out by the Health Service Executive and relevant regulatory bodies on foreign-trained nurses and doctors seeking employment within the HSE; the way in which their qualifications and clinical training are benchmarked against those required of Irish-trained health profession…
Topics / Health Services Staff
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsHealth Services Staff
2,097 questions from 136 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 22 October 2026.
2,097
questions
2,094 written, 3 oral
136
TDs have asked
11
parties and groups
Independents counted together
7
departments asked
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 27 |
| February 2025 | 81 |
| March 2025 | 96 |
| April 2025 | 96 |
| May 2025 | 103 |
| June 2025 | 94 |
| July 2025 | 145 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 96 |
| October 2025 | 49 |
| November 2025 | 116 |
| December 2025 | 68 |
| January 2026 | 76 |
| February 2026 | 96 |
| March 2026 | 138 |
| April 2026 | 143 |
| May 2026 | 162 |
| June 2026 | 215 |
| July 2026 | 62 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 148 |
| October 2026 | 86 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
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314
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93
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77
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74
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70
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50
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45
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43
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
1246. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health if there are approved centres in any health regions at present without an assigned psychologist, occupational therapist or social worker; the duration of this staffing deficit where it may exist; the location of the approved centre; and for details of efforts to recruit to those posts. [12920/26]
1247. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health for an update on the development of intensive recovery support teams in each health region; the current level of capital resourcing and staffing of those teams when set against the benchmarks for rehabilitation and recovery mental health teams in A Vision for Change - i.e., current staffing levels of each discipline and current building provision for supported li…
562. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Health whether retention packages for medical staff are under consideration for hospitals in the CHO5 area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11296/26]
570. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health to advise on a matter raised in correspondence (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11326/26]
588. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the assessment her Department has undertaken of home support workforce capacity in Cork City and County, including recruitment, retention, and attrition rates; how these factors are impacting waiting lists; and what workforce planning measures are being implemented to address shortages. [11403/26]
600. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that neither her Department nor the HSE currently operates any national key performance indicators governing recruitment clearance timelines, including Garda vetting, occupational health clearance, HR approval stages, or the time from job offer to commencement; whether she considers the absence of such KPIs compatible with effective workforce p…
618. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Health the number of funded whole-time equivalent posts for occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and physiotherapists in primary care services; the number currently filled; the number vacant, by county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11515/26]
236. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his plans to rectify delays in post mortems for coroner inquests in the south-east; if he has engaged with the Minister for Health or the HSE regarding short staffing in pathology at UHW which is causing this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10722/26]
284. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health when the current pause in recruitment of physician associates is expected to be lifted; when the physician associates review is due to be published; and the HSE CEOs plans for the recruitment and deployment of PAs within the National Service Plan 2026, particularly in the context of an under-resourced and understaffed health service. [10518/26]
285. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health the measures being taken to fill the staff vacancies in St Joseph's Hospital, Stranorlar, County Donegal, given that a considerable number of beds are empty, while Letterkenny University Hospital is consistently one of the most overcrowded hospitals in the State. [10553/26]
346. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of sanctioned pathologist posts at University Hospital Waterford; the number of vacant posts; the details of recruitment timelines for unfilled posts; the details of staffing levels and additional posts sought in each of the years since 2020 to-date in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10725/26]
351. Deputy Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh asked the Minister for Health if she will sanction an implementation lead to support clinical guideline adherence in maternity units across the State; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10778/26]
356. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Health the number of ophthalmologists, optometrists and dispensing opticians providing services to medical card patients under the community ophthalmic services scheme in each years since 2022 to-date in 2026, in tabular form. [10800/26]
371. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if a psychologist could be granted to the North Kerry mental health services (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10919/26]
372. Deputy Pádraig Rice asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 2425 of 13 January 2026, if this group of contract workers will be transitioned to permanent contracts under the HSE's agency conversion programme (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10922/26]
981. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health the number of vacant occupational therapist posts in Meath; and when these will be filled; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9257/26]
982. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health the number of occupational therapists the State hired in each of the years 2020-2025, by area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9258/26]
1101. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant ophthalmologists and ophthalmologist registrars based at University Hospital Waterford as of 2 February 2026, in tabular form. [9840/26]
1102. Deputy Conor D. McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE public health nurses based in Waterford; and the locations each of those nurses cover, in tabular form. [9841/26]
1105. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Health the current status of the HSE’s pause on the recruitment of physician associates; the reason for the continued delay in completing the review of the PA role; the expected timeline for publication of this review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9855/26]
1106. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Health the number of physician associate graduates from the 2024 and 2025 cohorts who remain unable to take up employment in the HSE due to the recruitment pause; the measures being considered to support these graduates pending the completion of the review; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9856/26]
1107. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Health the way in which the pause in physician associate recruitment aligns with current workforce planning needs, including pressures on emergency departments, waiting lists, and consultant and NCHD staffing shortages; the role envisaged for PAs in addressing these challenges; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9857/26]
1130. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Health the actions she is taking to resolve the ongoing industrial action involving physiologists; the assessment of the impact of this dispute on diagnostic capacity, waiting lists, and service sustainability at Sligo University Hospital; and if she will engage with the union (details supplied) and the HSE to address pay inequities and support recruitment and retenti…
1134. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Health if, in view of a significant number of healthcare workers continuing to suffer from long covid as a result of their work in the Irish Health Service during the covid pandemic, she will reconsider her stated position in relation to the recognition of long covid as an occupational injury; if she has discussed this important issue with her colleague, the Minister …