1076. Deputy Shay Brennan asked the Minister for Health when the review of the physician associate role will be published; the reasons for the repeated delays to its publication since the original due date of 31 October 2025; the current status of the HSE embargo affecting the recruitment of physician associates; the expected timeline for lifting this embargo; and the steps her Department and the HSE will take to provide clarity to students, graduates, and working physician associates regarding regulation, employment pathways, and integration into the health service [34496/26]

The Independent Review of the role of Physician Assistant in the Irish Public Health System has been published. The HSE shared the review with stakeholders on 5 May 2026 and it was published on the HSE website on 6 May 2026. The report is available at: https://about.hse.ie/publications/report-of-the-independent-review-of-the-pa-role-in-the-irish-public-health-system/.

The HSE is moving to an implementation phase focused on strengthening governance, role clarity and national consistency. Engagement is ongoing between the HSE and officials in my department to facilitate a recruitment pathway for Physician Assistants. Once finalised, a new HSE grade code and salary scale will require approval from my department and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. Every effort will be made to expedite this process. However, it is not possible to give an exact timeline at this point.

With regard to the regulation of Physician Assistants, work is ongoing in my department to develop a framework to guide policy on the regulation of the health and social care workforce into the future. The framework will be informed by an evidence and risk-based approach to regulation in line with requirements set out in the EU Proportionality Test Directive. There are no plans in place to progress regulation of individual professions until the framework is in place. The department is currently engaging with relevant stakeholders, including professional bodies representing unregulated professions, on the development of the framework.

My officials and I continue to engage with colleagues in the HSE on the Physician Assistant role in Ireland.