‘Horrifying’ situation sees convicted sex offenders among criminals free to work as paramedics
- Dignity 4Patients
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
By Eavan Murray- 12/03/2026- Irish Independent- [Ireland]
Weak legal regulation of paramedics is being blamed for a "horrifying” situation where criminals, including at least eight known convicted sex offenders, are free to work as paramedics.
A confidential report seen by the Irish Independent confirms the Health Minister was informed of the issue in September 2025, but did not respond until a second “urgent” letter was delivered on December 10, 2025.
The chairperson of the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) Dr Tomás Barry requested an “urgent” meeting with the minister after sending two previous letters.
He goes on to say that the PHECC is powerless to act, or even suspend, known criminals including sex offenders, from the register.
“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 the PHECC in these circumstances.
“The employer does not usually inform [the] PHECC, and it is rarely in the registrants’ interests to do so.”
Dr Barry said these “shortcomings in [the] PHECC’s legislative framework are very concerning”.
The Irish Independent has also discovered that the National Ambulance Service (NAS) is allowing unregulated “specialist paramedics” currently practise outside regulatory oversight.
A damning confidential report presented to the Medical Advisory Committee of the PHECC states: “NAS qualified community paramedics (CPs) and critical care paramedics (CCPs) are not registered on the PHECC statutory register [so] they cannot be subject to a PHECC fitness-to-practise investigation.
A confidential report seen by the Irish Independent confirms the Health Minister was informed of the issue in September 2025 - but did not respond until a second 'urgent' letter was delivered in December 2025
“This presents a significant risk to the public. A specialist practitioner could cause harm through an act or omission falling within their specialist scope but remain unaccountable to the state regulator.
“As with other sections of this issue, it is inconceivable that Government would tolerate any such situation with other healthcare professions.”
The Irish Independent is aware of one person who remains at work for the NAS who is under garda investigation accused of serious sexual wrongdoing against a vulnerable female patient.
And a confidential survey completed by 86pc of female paramedics working in one NAS division last year found 50pc reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment.
These ranged from sexual assault, groping to inappropriate comments at the hands of patients and often colleagues, some of whom held senior positions.
Robert Morton, director of the National Ambulance Service (NAS), when speaking at the Oireachtas Health Committee in October 2025, said complaints of sexual harassment are taken “really, really seriously” by the NAS.
He said the NAS received three sexual harassment complaints in three years.
“We’re dealing with a case right now,” he said.
“Of those three cases, there has been one dismissal, and two others have been sanctioned. We take the matter really, really seriously.”
But the letter sent to Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill on December 10, 2025, by PHECC chairperson Dr Tomás Barry, shows the level of concern.
The letter states: “I am writing further to my letter of September 1, 2025, and follow-up email to your private secretary on September 30.
“I note that I have not yet received a response, however, appreciate the very busy and challenging nature of your role.
“I now need to request an urgent meeting with you to discuss significant shortcomings in the legislative framework that is the basis for the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council’s regulatory role.”
A horrifying patient-safety crisis
Dr Barry goes on to state that since his previous letter in September he commissioned independent legal advice.
He said the advice identified “significant legislative deficiencies in respect of [the] PHECC’s ability to effectively regulate emergency services practitioners and providers”.
Legal advice received by the PHECC from Fieldfisher LLP, a top international law firm, highlighted a number of issues, including:
The lack of mandatory registration
No power to create further divisions of the register outside of the current paramedic, advanced paramedic and emergency medical technician despite the ongoing NAS training of “community paramedics” and “critical-care paramedics”.
Weak fitness-to-practise powers whereby the regulator was unable to suspend registrants, even in cases of serious or immediate risk to the public.
The PHECC was also unable to prevent registrants coming off the register while the subject of a fitness-to-practise complaint. If someone removes themselves from the register they cannot then be subject to a fitness-to-practise inquiry.
Even when a subject is found guilty by a FTP committee, the PHECC has a “limited range of sanctions available which do not restrict the practice of a registrant”.
Stephen McMahon – the co-founder and director of the Irish Patients Association – said the revelations by the Irish Independent are “horrifying”.
“The revelation that there are at least eight confirmed criminal convictions for sexual assault among registrants operating within a system where the regulator is not even automatically notified is a horrifying patient-safety crisis.
“But the real scandal here is the systemic concealment of these failures.
“This is exactly what we mean when we say the governance of the National Ambulance Service is fundamentally broken.
“The state regulator has been begging the Department of Health to fix these catastrophic loopholes so they can protect the public from convicted offenders, and they were met with a wall of silence and delay.
“It is a total structural failure to manage and mitigate risk. The National Ambulance Service reports directly to the HSE and the department. If this is the way the political and administrative system deals with its own regulators and patient organisations, what hope is there for patients or civilians?”
The minister and the department need to stop sitting on these concerns and urgently intervene
Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane TD said this “is a patient safety risk.”
“It raises the very real prospect that people who have engaged in serious wrongdoing, including those convicted of serious crimes, may not be dealt with as swiftly or as robustly as the public would expect from robust health regulatory system.
“The minister and the department need to stop sitting on these concerns and urgently intervene. The risks are too serious and the consequences of inaction are too great.”
Other concerns raised by Dr Barry to Ms Carroll MacNeill related to “intern” paramedics who are “not legally entitled to administer medications under the Medicinal Products (Prescription and Control of Supply) Regulations, despite currently being required to do so in their day-to-day operational role”.
“As I understand it, at any one time there are approximately 300 senior paramedic interns operating within our system.
“This cadre forms part of the core essential staffing of frontline ambulances and thus are required to carry and administer medication in circumstances where that may be required.
“This is an immediate issue of concern, and I have asked the PHECC director to convene an emergency meeting of [the] PHECC, Department of Health and National Ambulance Service officials to discuss this issue.
“Ultimately given the gravity of the situation outlined above I would very much appreciate the opportunity to meet [even briefly] with you at your earliest convenience.”
Asked directly on the existence of at least eight convicted sex offenders on the PHECC register, both the Department of Health and NAS were silent on the issue.
Neither response acknowledged the question.
Regulators vary in the nature of their oversight
In response to a series of questions, the HSE said: “All HSE staff working in NAS who work as an EMT [emergency medical technician], paramedic or advanced paramedic must be registered with the PHECC to practise legally in Ireland.
“For HSE employees, the NAS clinical director has sole authority to grant or withdraw such privileges.
“The NAS takes any issues or allegations very seriously. In cases where wrongdoing has been established, privileges would be withdrawn from any registered practitioner permanently. In those circumstances, NAS would notify the relevant regulator.
In response as to whether interns are “legally entitled to administer medications under the Medicinal Products [Prescription and Control of Supply] Regulations”, the NAS response, through the HSE, said the administration of medications by intern paramedics is “authorised by the HSE” and has “operated successfully within NAS without significant incident for over 20 years”.
The Department of Health, in its response, said: “Regulators vary in the nature of their oversight, according to the respective legislative and regulatory framework.
“In the case of paramedicine, as well as registration with [the] PHECC, practitioners also operate under the auspices of a PHECC-approved Clinical Practice Guideline [CPG] service provider. The approved service provider must also privilege the practitioner to practise on their behalf.
“Where such privileging is withdrawn from any registered practitioner on a permanent basis, then in those circumstances, [the] PHECC is notified by [the] NAS. The employment-related consequences are a matter for the relevant employer.
“Regulation takes place within the wider framework of national laws and policies, including garda vetting that covers convictions, ancillary orders and impending prosecutions.”
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article and were abused in state run medical and health facilities, you can contact Dignity4Patients, whose helpline is open Monday to Thursday, 10am to 4pm.
Dignity4Patients Commentary: The issue lies not in simply misconduct, but within the weak regulatory powers the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council holds. Paramedics treat patients in the most vulnerable moments of their lives, they place their trust in the practitioner that has been sent to help them. Weak oversight creates a major safety risk not only for patients, but paramedics and other emergency responders too.
