Health Services Staff Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-23 ============================================================ Linda Nelson Murray (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel I thank the Minister of State for coming in here today. Physician associates in Ireland are healthcare professionals who work under consultant or GP supervision. It was lovely for me to learn about this role because I did not fully understand it until somebody approached me about this. Physician associates support medical teams providing continuity of care by taking patient histories, conducting exams, formulating diagnoses and managing care. They work mainly in hospitals across surgical and medical subspecialities offering a stable presence compared with rotating junior doctors. I did not really understand this role until a lady called Emma came into my office looking for help. I also did not know that our own very valuable hospital in Navan has added physician associate roles as valuable members of its medical team. I will start with Emma's story. She said: Linda, I'm looking for your help as a government representative. I am currently undergoing a 2-year masters in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland in a new healthcare profession. The profession is called Physician Associate. The role which began in 2016 involves working within the medical team under the supervision of a consultant or GP to diagnose patients, order tests, perform procedures, assist in surgery, and provide continuity of care among many other responsibilities. The role originated in the US and is very well established there now with Physician Associates providing care across all medical specialities. RCSI Physician Associates train to work in the Irish Healthcare System, a system which is falling apart at its seams with overcrowding, unprecedented waiting lists and ill resources. The problem currently affecting our profession is a pause in recruitment by the HSE while they undertake a review into the profession. The HSE has funded this master’s course for all 26 of its current second year students with an undertaking for us to be employed by the HSE for 3 years after we graduate. The course fees are approx. €24,000 which works out at approx. €600,000 which has been financed by the HSE. There are currently four Physician Associates working within Our Lady's Hospital Navan and I have seen first hand the impact they are having on our local hospital. They facilitate extra clinics; they have added extra surgical lists, and they are a constant member of the team for patients to see every time they revisit the hospital. Emma goes on to explain that it is a worrisome time and that she and others do not know what is happening. The pause in recruitment means a pause in their lives with some graduate students currently on jobseeker's benefit and others working in retail. They are a trained Irish workforce that is motivated to work and is looking for help to get that going forward. I put in a representation to the Minister for Health and received an answer from the workforce reform policy unit at Department of Health that read: The HSE committed in the 2025 National Service Plan to undertake an independent assessment of the Physician Assistant role. The HSE commissioned a review of the Physician Assistant role with the aim of making recommendations regarding the governance of the role, scope of practice, and appropriate and safe deployment in Ireland. The review has been completed and has now been submitted to the Minister for Health. The review makes recommendations with respect to governance and scope of practice. The Minister for Health has requested the HSE to submit an implementation plan by the end of February 2026. Given the commitment to carry out an independent review, the HSE decided to pause the recruitment of Physician Assistants. Following publication of the report, the HSE will work towards the implementation of the recommendations and the establishment of an appropriate HSE grade code for the role. We are at a standstill. We have been putting this in since the beginning of the year. We were told that we would see the implementation plan by the end of February and I hope the Minister of State has an answer for me and can tell Emma and other people who are studying for this role that they will see light at the end of the tunnel. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-23/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:51+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-23