Over 7,300 incidents of assault against nurses and other healthcare staff were recorded in the last 18 months.
The figures, provided to Sinn Fein's Health Spokesperson David Cullinane, show nurses were verbally, physically or sexually attacked nearly 4,500 times from January 2021 to last month.
It has led to calls for a 'zero tolerance' approach to combat the issue.
Health Editor of the Irish Times, Paul Cullen, says frontline staff are bearing the brunt of the abuse:
"There were only nine reports of assaults followed by professional grades who wouldn't be people who'd be on the front line. So although the the figures don't go into detail, it's clear that the brunt of the anger is being felt by frontline health workers."
