Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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435. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of full-time nurse officers employed by the Irish Prison Service as of 31 August 2020, 31 August 2021 and 6 September 2022, in tabular form. [44602/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy may wish to note that ‘Prison Nurses’ have been employed by the Irish Prison Service since 2012, following the restructuring of nursing in the Irish Prison Service as a result of the Haddington Road Agreement. Prior to 2012, the Irish Prison Service employed the grade of ‘Nurse Officer’.

The information requested by the Deputy, for both Prison Nurses and Nurse Officers, is set out in the table below.

It may be of interest to the Deputy to know that the Irish Prison Service have advised that staffing requirements are continuously monitored and that vacancies can arise as a result of multiple factors including mobility, promotions and retirements. The recruitment of Prison Nurses by the Irish Prison Service has been ongoing since 2018 and has regard to such factors as service needs and retirement levels. There were 9 nurses recruited in 2018, 19 in 2020, 6 in 2021 and 6 up to the 14 September 2022.

I can assure the Deputy that the Prison Service continues to work to enhance and improve its level of medical service delivery to prisoners. The Service has recently concluded a comprehensive Health Needs Assessment (HNA) to examine the broad range of health care services that are provided across the entire prison estate.

In addition, the Prison Service central nursing resource is currently being strengthened and the Prison Service is progressing the appointment of a senior nursing post in Mental Health and Addiction and two additional posts relating to Clinical Professional Development and Clinical Care Pathways are also under consideration.