A NUMBER of convicted sex offenders are working as paramedics, with current vetting procedures inadequate, the ambulance watchdog has told the Health Minister.
Confidential briefs sent to Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and seen by the Irish Daily Mail, said there are no mechanisms or obligations to inform the ambulance regulator of paramedics with criminal convictions.
The Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC), a paramedic oversight body, was made aware of the convictions after a root-and-branch HR review following previous reporting by the Mail.
In correspondence to the minister last December, PHECC chairman Tomás Barry revealed the serious findings that several paramedics with convictions for sexual assault are still practising.
A letter, citing legal advice, stated: ‘The Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council is aware of at least 13 confirmed cases of criminal conviction involving registrants (including eight for sexual assault), and it is important to note that these are only the cases that PHECC has become aware of, as there is no mechanism or obligation for the employer, registrant, courts or gardaí to inform PHECC in these circumstances. The employer does not usually inform PHECC, and it is rarely in the registrants’ interests to do so.’
The Mail has previously revealed a litany of claims of sexual assault in the National Ambulance Service (NAS), which sparked a major HR review. These revelations included details of a secret report that found most female paramedic staff working in the northeast had encountered sexual harassment while working.
This newspaper also exclusively revealed at the time that an alleged ‘predator’, who is under Garda investigation over accusations that he sexually assaulted one of his patients and cannot be named, is still working for the NAS.
Senior sources confirmed to the Mail that, following the commencement of a review of legacy sexual harassment claims by an expert team, the PHECC was made aware of the convictions against staff – some of whom had previously been reported to the oversight body.
Following this, the PHECC made submissions to the Department of Health in December, notifying the minister of several constraints on its ability to enforce care standards and perform fitness-to-practice inquiries.
A spokeswoman for the HSE stated that the NAS ‘takes any issues or allegations very seriously’. She added that privileges are withdrawn from any registered practitioner ‘permanently’ where wrongdoing has been established.
‘In those circumstances, NAS would notify the relevant regulator,’ she said. ‘Protecting the safety of employees and service users is a priority for the HSE.’
A confidential briefing by the PHECC, shared with the minister and obtained by the Mail, said it is ‘inconceivable’ that the Government would allow healthcare staff to continue to work without any oversight.
It explained that a pilot programme to establish a new division of ambulance staff, referred to as ‘specialist paramedics’, was launched in 2019 without any legal frameworks to regulate their practices.
To regulate the group, who practise more advanced care for gravely ill patients, the PHECC said it must have powers to create a new division in its existing register.
It said the situation has limited its ability to register paramedics and suspend those accused of malpractice, and places liability for the specialist cohort on one senior director at the NAS.
The PHECC said its ability to ‘operate an effective fitness-to-practise system, comparable to other statutory professional regulators, is restricted by weak legislation’.
It ‘therefore has no authority to intervene or investigate in the event of concerns over specialist paramedic practice,’ the brief states.
A spokeswoman for the HSE has rejected these claims. In a statement to the Mail, she said that clinical levels of practice ‘do not always align’ with employment grades, and paramedics remain subject to fitness-to-practise inquiries.
The PHECC further claims that the lack of regulatory oversight has also led to over 40 paramedics being limited in their ability to carry out life-saving work.
The PHECC’s Mr Barry said these findings were further supported by legal advice received by the oversight body in December last year. Solicitors agreed that the new specialist cohort, Community Paramedics and Critical Care Paramedics, are not legally authorised to administer medication beyond what is permitted for advanced paramedics.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD and CEO of the HSE Bernard Gloster at the Launch of the AI Care Strategy in the Mater Hospital, Dublin this week
The PHECC’s Tomas Barry warned that the alarming findings were further supported by legal advice received by the oversight body in December last year
The PHECC said 30 paramedics had obtained specialist qualifications as of September 2025, and 13 more were in training. In practice, it said, community paramedics are ‘inappropriately’ transporting patients to emergency departments instead of treating them at home, as intended under plans included in the Sláintecare initiative.
Critical care paramedics are prevented from providing advanced care and medicines to the ‘most severely injured or ill patients’, as they are unregulated, it is claimed.
The PHECC stated last December that the responsibility and accountability for the standard of care carried out by the specialist cohort lies solely with the practitioners’ employer, the NAS.
The regulator stated that it placed an unfair burden on the senior member of staff and had the risk of undermining the position of the oversight body in Ireland.
‘This is completely against the function and raison d’etre of a regulator in this space,’ it added in its letter to Minister Carroll MacNeill and senior Department of Health staff.
‘It is inconceivable that Government would permit other healthcare professionals, such as medical doctors, to provide care outside the oversight and sanctioning power of their regulator.’
A spokeswoman for the HSE said the NAS clinical director is ‘indemnified’ by the Clinical Indemnity Scheme for all functions of the specialist paramedics’ roles, on behalf of the HSE.
The HSE has told the Mail that the NAS ‘privileges practitioners to implement PHECC Clinical Practice Guidelines’ in accordance with their current competency and employment status. A spokesperson for the Department of Health was approached for comment.
