The information requested by the Deputy is not readily available to the Medical Council in the form set out in the question.
The most accurate information held by the Medical Council in relation to the number of doctors on the Specialist Division of the Register in the area of psychiatry arises from the annual retention process between May and August, when doctors are required to retain their registration by completing the annual retention application form. This retention data provides insight into the number of doctors currently employed in the Irish health service. All doctors who complete the retention process report their current or most recent area of practice. If a doctor is practising medicine in Ireland, they may report working as a hospital consultant or other consultant or specialist as a follow up to this question. This question on role became mandatory in 2024. Figures from before 2024 may slightly underestimate the true value.
It is important to note that certain cohorts of doctors do not undergo retention, this includes all doctors joining the Register after 30 April in a given year. Further information on the retention process is available in the workforce intelligence reports published on the Medical Council website. The Medical Council’s 2024 report is available at: www.medicalcouncil.ie/news-and-publications/reports/medical-workforce-intelligence-report-2024.pdf
The table at the link below sets out the specialists retaining and self-reporting practising medicine in Ireland in the area of psychiatry (including Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychiatry of Old Age or Psychiatry of Learning Disability) from 2022 – 2025. As data on nationality is not readily available across all datasets, this information has been broken down by basic medical qualification, where doctors are grouped as graduates from Irish Medical Schools, graduates from the EU or UK, or graduates from an international medical school outside of Ireland, the EU or the UK.
Basic Medical Qualification 2022 – 2025
The NDTP report Medical Workforce Planning for the Specialty of Psychiatry 2020–2030 identified significant existing and projected demand for psychiatric services, driven by population growth and ageing, increasing prevalence and complexity of mental health presentations, implementation of national mental health policy, and ongoing service reform across community and acute settings.
Since publication of the report, work has been undertaken by the Department, the HSE and the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland to incrementally increase psychiatry workforce capacity. The number of doctors enrolled in psychiatry training programmes has increased from 144 in 2021 to 184 in 2025, representing an increase of approximately 28%. Over the same period, the consultant psychiatry workforce has increased from 483 to 600 posts, representing an increase of approximately 24%.
Work is continuing across the Department, the HSE and relevant stakeholders to further expand training and consultant workforce capacity in line with the recommendations and projected service demand identified in the report.
In addition, the Strategic Workforce Planning and Intelligence Team within the HSE is continuing its collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) to develop workforce demand projections across care groups within Community Care Services. This project will extend the ESRI’s healthcare projection model, Hippocrates, to provide detailed workforce projections for selected professions out to 2035. As part of this work, a Mental Health workforce report is due for publication in Q4 2026.
