Health Services Waiting Lists
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-09
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Cathal Byrne (FG), Cultural and Educational Panel

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, for coming in. This is a serious and profound issue I will raise, based on the latest figures from the HSE for people awaiting physiotherapist services in the south-east health region. The figures show 6,693 people have been waiting for those services for more than 12 months.
In the Minister of State's area of Carlow, Kilkenny and Tipperary, there are 295 people. In the south Dublin and County Wicklow area, there are 100 people, but in the Waterford and Wexford area - Wexford is my county - 4,404 people have been waiting more than 12 months. Something has clearly broken down in the HSE if two thirds of all the people in the Dublin and South East health region who are waiting more than 12 months for physiotherapy are based in Waterford or Wexford. Unfortunately, we do not have a further breakdown of how long these people have been waiting. The figures are capped at waiting more than 52 weeks.
The reason I tabled this Commencement matter today is to offer a solution to this, which is to allow qualified athletic therapists, who are regulated by Athletic Rehabilitation Therapy Ireland, to engage with the HSE to free up physiotherapists by allowing athletic therapists to do work coinciding with, not replacing, physiotherapists by working alongside them. These people are qualified, having studied for a level 8, four-year degree from DCU, SETU in our area, or ATU. At the moment, approximately 150 graduates are coming out of colleges having done a four-year degree. They are recognised, certified athletic therapists and they have told me through their representative body, Athletic Rehabilitation Therapy Ireland, that there has been engagement with the HSE about allowing them to work within the HSE structures, but the engagement has not successfully led to them being allowed to work. Given the enormous waiting lists in my area, the south east, and in general, a review of this should be carried out. I would be interested in hearing the Department of Health's position about allowing these professionals to work in the health service, particularly given that they have four-year degrees and are approved and qualified as having a regulated, recognised position. Also, currently the NHS allows them to play an important role in the UK.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09