Notifications to HIQA in Irish Designated Centres: What to Report

This guide covers Ireland. For the UK equivalent, see our guide: CQC Statutory Notifications: What Care Providers Must Report and When.

If you run a designated centre for older people in Ireland, certain events must be reported to the Chief Inspector at HIQA (the Health Information and Quality Authority). Some are due within two days, some are reported quarterly, and some leave HIQA with a six-monthly nil return. This guide sets out what the Regulations say, what HIQA's own guidance and forms add, and where the sources leave questions open. For background on the regulator, see our explainer on what HIQA is and what it does.

Everything below comes from the Irish Statute Book, HIQA's own pages and forms, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) and Citizens Information. This is general information, not legal advice.

Which rules set out the notifications

For designated centres for older people, the source is Regulation 31 (Notification of incidents) of the Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 415 of 2013), together with paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 to those Regulations, headed "Notifications under Regulation 31". The Regulations as made were signed on 29 October 2013.

They have since been amended. S.I. No. 1 of 2025 was signed on 6 November 2024 and was due to commence on 31 March 2025. It was then revoked by S.I. No. 98 of 2025, which the Minister for Health signed on 27 March 2025. S.I. No. 98 of 2025 also comes into operation on 31 March 2025, and it amends Regulation 31 and replaces paragraph 7 of Schedule 4 in full. HIQA's statutory notifications page confirms that separate sets of Regulations govern older people's centres, centres for people with disabilities and children's special care units, so check which set applies to your centre. This post covers only the older people's Regulations.

Events to notify within two days

As amended by S.I. No. 98 of 2025, Regulation 31(1) requires the person in charge to notify the Chief Inspector in writing of the events listed in the first part of paragraph 7 of Schedule 4. The amended Regulation changes the period from "3 working days" to "2 working days". The Schedule itself says the Chief Inspector must be notified "within 2 days", and a record must be kept. According to the amended Schedule, the events are:

• an unexpected death of a resident, including a death after transfer to hospital;
• any fire;
• any loss of power, heating or water, or an unplanned evacuation where residents could not return immediately;
• an outbreak of any notifiable disease;
• a serious incident or injury needing hospital admission or resulting in death;
• any unexplained absence of a resident;
• alleged or confirmed abuse of a resident;
• an allegation of misconduct against the registered provider or a staff member; and
• the registered provider becoming aware that the person in charge is under review by a professional body.

Regulation 31(2), as made, also requires the person in charge to tell the Chief Inspector in writing the cause of an unexpected death once it is established. Regulation 31(2) was not amended by S.I. No. 98 of 2025.

The wording is not perfectly aligned across the sources. Regulation 31(1) refers to working days, the Schedule refers to days, and HIQA's guidance describes "three/two-day" notifications. HIQA's nil return form (version 3.0, effective 31 March 2025) still labels one section "three day" in its body while its title says "two day". Check the current text and HIQA's guidance for how the days are counted. Our suggestion: do not rely on the longer reading. Build your process so that the person in charge can submit within two days of an event, and ask HIQA directly if you are unsure how the days are counted.

Events to notify quarterly

Regulation 31(3), as amended, requires the person in charge to give the Chief Inspector a written report at the end of each quarter on the events listed in the second part of paragraph 7. According to the amended Schedule, these are:

• any occasion when restrictive practices were used, including the type used and the number of residents affected;
• operation of the fire alarm other than for fire practice, drills or equipment testing;
• a recurring pattern of theft or burglary;
• any death not already notified in the two-day category, including its cause; and
• any other adverse incident the Chief Inspector requires.

Check HIQA's current guidance for the date by which each quarterly report is due. HIQA's form lists a pressure ulcer of category II or higher as a quarterly item, so use HIQA's current forms and guidance as your checklist alongside the Regulation text.

Six-monthly nil returns

Regulation 31(4), as made, says that where no report is required under paragraph (1) or (3), the registered provider reports that to the Chief Inspector at the end of each six-month period. HIQA publishes form NF40, "Nil return of quarterly and/or 2 day notifications". It covers January to June and July to December, and is signed by the person in charge or an authorised signatory for the registered provider. The form gives an email address and a postal address for submission.

HIQA's guidance on managing notifiable events (version 2.1, May 2025) separately cautions providers against sending notifications that do not meet the criteria, and gives nil returns as an example of unnecessary burden. A reasonable reading is that a nil return is for the six-month position only. Confirm the current expectation with HIQA.

How to submit and what a good notification contains

According to HIQA's guidance, the preferred and most secure route is electronic submission through the HIQA Provider Portal. Email and paper forms are for when the portal is unavailable. Regulation 31(5), added in 2025, says reports under paragraphs (1) and (3) must follow guidance produced by the Chief Inspector. Regulation 31(5) refers to guidance issued by the Chief Inspector, so read HIQA's current guidance on notifications and check with HIQA which documents it means.

The guidance says a good notification is necessary, concise but complete, specific (for example naming the drug in a chemical restraint case or the pathogen in an outbreak), clear about referrals and outcomes, and free of personal data such as names, dates of birth, initials or room numbers. It should also say what was learned and what will change. HIQA says inspectors use notifications to inform their monitoring approach and may ask for more information where a report lacks key details.

When the person in charge is absent

Regulations 32 and 33 deal with a separate notice. As made, Regulation 32 requires notice to the Chief Inspector of an absence of the person in charge, with planned absences notified no later than one month beforehand unless otherwise agreed or in an emergency. S.I. No. 98 of 2025 changes the 28-day figure to 42 days in paragraphs (1) and (3) and replaces Regulation 33, which now deals with deputising arrangements for up to six months, extendable on application by up to a further six months. The notice must name the deputy and give contact details and qualifications. Check the instrument itself before relying on these points.

How this differs from HSA accident reporting

HIQA notifications concern the safety and welfare of residents and the running of the centre. Reporting to the HSA concerns accidents to people at work. The two can overlap, but one does not replace the other. For a fuller explanation, see our guide to HSA accident and dangerous occurrence reporting.

According to Citizens Information (page last updated 16 July 2026), an employer must report to the HSA where an employee misses more than 3 consecutive days at work because of an accident or injury, and the day of the accident is not counted. The HSA's information sheet (no date shown) says fatal accidents are reported by phone immediately with the formal report within five working days, and non-fatal accidents and dangerous occurrences within ten working days, citing S.I. No. 370 of 2016. HIQA's notifiable-events guidance does not mention the HSA or An Garda Siochana. A practical approach: keep one incident log, and for each event record separately whether HIQA, the HSA or both need to be told, and who is responsible for each.

Making notifications routine

• Name a lead and a deputy for submissions, so the two-day period is not missed when the person in charge is off.
• Keep the record that Schedule 4 requires for each notified event.
• Review notifications quarterly for patterns; HIQA's guidance suggests tools such as root cause analysis.
• Include notification handling in induction. Our overview of HIQA inspections and staff training shows where this fits.

Learnsignal's offices are off Baggot Street in Dublin, and we offer in-person training from there. For current details, see our CPD pages.

Frequently asked questions

Who submits notifications to HIQA?

Regulation 31 places the duty to notify on the person in charge, except the six-monthly nil return, which is the registered provider's duty. HIQA's NF40 form can be signed by either the person in charge or an authorised signatory for the registered provider.

Is a death always notifiable within two days?

Not always. The two-day category covers an unexpected death, including one after hospital transfer. Any other death is notified quarterly, with its cause, according to the amended Schedule.

Do these rules apply to disability centres?

These are the older people's Regulations. HIQA lists separate Regulations for disability centres and special care units, so check which set applies and do not assume they are identical.

Do we need to notify HIQA and the HSA about the same incident?

Possibly both. They are separate regimes with different triggers. Check each against its own source.

Notification rules are easy to get wrong under pressure, so write the process down before you need it.