Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for her question.

The Heath Information and Quality Authority (HIQA was established under the Health Act 2007, as amended, to promote safety and quality in the provision of health and personal social services for the benefit of the health and welfare of the public. HIQA’s regulatory role is to regulate designated centres for older people, people with a disability and special care units. HIQA also regulates medical ionising radiation exposure and monitors standards in acute and community hospitals and some children’s social care services.

HIQA have advised me that the following response is in relation to inspectors of Designated Centres for Older People (DCOP):

The DCOP team is comprised of the following sanctioned posts:

Team Member	Sanctioned posts
Deputy Chief Inspector	1
Regional Managers	8
Inspectors	35*
Regulatory Support Officers	5

*Includes the national team with 3 inspectors with expertise in fire safety and 3 inspectors (6 in total) with expertise in infection prevention and control (these 6 posts also support the regulation of designated centres for adults and children with a disability, and registered children’s services.

All of the above are authorised inspectors of social services who operate within a scheme of determination. For the purpose of answering the questions on the number of inspectors, the areas they are assigned to, and the number of facilities that they are overseeing, we have focused on the 29 inspector roles who have a caseholding remit.

When all posts are filled, the 29 inspectors on the DCOP team are allocated on a regional basis as follows:

1. DCOP North (Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Mayo, Longford, Westmeath, Cavan and Monaghan)
2. DCOP East (Meath, Louth, Kildare, Wicklow, Laois, Meath and Offaly)
3. DCOP Greater Dublin
4. DCOP South East (Waterford, Tipperary, Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow)
5. DCOP South (Cork and Kerry)
6. DCOP West (Limerick, Clare and Galway)

   	Currently allocated posts	Inspectors currently in post	Vacancies
   DCOP North	5	5	0
   DCOP East	5	5	0
   DCOP Greater Dublin	4	2	1 + 1 on induction
   DCOP South East	5	4.8	0.2
   DCOP South	5	4.6	0.4
   DCOP West	5	4.8	0.2

Excluding the national team of inspectors who do not have a case holding remit, there are currently 26.2 DCOP inspectors who oversee the 553 nursing homes with 32331 beds as of the end of Q1 2024. A new inspector has just commenced, but does not currently have a caseload, and is not included in the numbers above as being in post. When the team is fully staffed, each inspector is allocated approximately 21 nursing homes adjusted for reduced working hours and covering statutory leave.

It is not possible to provide information specific to the area to which they are assigned, the number of facilities they are overseeing from 2021 to date, in tabular form. HIQA does not compile this information. Since 2021, following the publication of the expert panel review, the DCOP team has increased from 5 to 6 regions and the numbers of inspectors also progressively increased to 29 with caseloads, reducing as new inspectors were on boarded. Since then, the numbers of inspectors have been broadly in line with current numbers, except for where caseloads are reallocated to accommodate vacancies created by resignations, statutory leaves and internal transfers and promotions.