Health Services Waiting Lists
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-09
============================================================

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny

I thank the Senator for highlighting this important issue. I saw the figure for Wexford of 4,400. That is a lot of people waiting. In my area of Carlow-Kilkenny there are 295 so I can see where the Senator is coming from.
I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. The Minister for Health is aware of athletic therapy as a profession and Department of Health officials have engaged with Athletic Rehabilitation Therapy Ireland, ARTI. Athletic therapists complete training in sports and injury rehabilitation. In line with workforce optimisation policy, the Department continues to focus on population health need and maximising the available workforce to meet that need safely. In this context, Department officials attended the World Federation of Athletic Training and Therapy World Congress hosted by ARTI in October 2025. This included engagement with ARTI and representatives of the British Association of Sport Rehabilitators. The Senator said this is happening in London.
Regarding HSE waiting lists and physiotherapy, physiotherapists complete training in musculoskeletal, neurological and respiratory conditions across health and social care settings. Primary care physiotherapy services for adults and children are delivered through community healthcare networks. In line with addressing more complex care in the community, the Minister has prioritised physiotherapy waiting lists. In 2025, more than 511,000 patients were seen in physiotherapy services. As of April 2026, more than 170,000 patients have been seen in physiotherapy services. Approximately 91,000 patients were awaiting assessment by a physiotherapist at the end of April 2026. These patients identified for physiotherapy have a range of conditions and complexity.
The Department of Health is working with the HSE on a focused programmatic approach to primary care therapy waiting lists, putting in place considerable standardised infrastructure to support systematic responses to primary care waiting lists. As part of this work, a waiting list initiative is under way to address physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy waiting lists and to reduce the waiting times for these therapies to less than 39 weeks.
There is a concern with the waiting lists. I totally agree with the Senator in that regard. This initiative is designed to ensure appropriate and safe care.
The latest available data, from February 2026, shows that since its commencement more than 5,000 people waiting over 39 weeks have been removed from primary care therapy waiting lists. The Sláintecare implementation strategy emphasises the importance of community-based care. One of its main objectives is to enable individuals to maintain their health and independence within their homes and communities. As the Senator will know, we are very much focused on primary care units and having units in everyone’s area. We are looking at them as much as possible. It is about the right care in the right place at the right time.
The programme for Government sets out a priority to place greater focus on exercise and well-being as a preventative and rehabilitation measure. It also sets out to examine ways to support the provision of community-based clinical exercise programmes nationwide. Work is under way with the establishment of pathways in healthcare to direct people with chronic disease into physical activity programmes in the community as part of their treatment.
In acute hospitals and primary care centres, the focus is on treating complexity and care is largely managed by physiotherapists. Many exercise and physical activity programmes are delivered outside of these settings. Contribution to these community-based exercise programmes may be from a range of professionals with expertise in physical activity, including athletic therapists. This is what the Senator was speaking about.
The Minister has committed to a meeting with athletic therapists in the coming weeks. This is to have further engagement. It is a good way forward. I thank the Senator for bringing this up today.

---

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/2026-06-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-09