The time frame as set down by the Standing Orders of the Dail for answering PQs is 10 working days.
Up to the commencement of the FORSA industrial action the HSE ‘on time’ average response was 75% for the 10 day (PQ) time frame and 81% within 15 days (Jan. - Sept 2023). Note some PQs are more complex and require the gathering of information from across different sections of the HSE e.g. Community Health Organisations (CHOs) and Hospital Groups, hence it is not always possible to respond within the 10 day time frame.
The FORSA industrial action commenced on 6th October and was suspended on 7th February 2024 and at that point there was a backlog of 1,385 PQs for 2023 received for reply from the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration & Youth.
Since the lifting of the Industrial Action on the 7th February, the HSE has responded to 774 of the backlog of PQs from 2023, with as of today’s date 611 PQs remaining of the backlog to be responded to.
The HSE at the same time has received 1,314 PQs in 2024 for processing and reply. The HSE has responded to 660 of these PQs to date (5th March 2024).
The HSE is working as quickly as it can to clear the back log while at the same time dealing with the daily volume of new PQs. For example in the week commencing 26th February alone the HSE responded to 302 PQs (119 from 2023 & 183 PQs from 2024) and processed a further 275 new PQs for reply.
