Dr. Lorna Lopez:

It is a very significant challenge. That leads in nicely, perhaps, to the Deputy’s second question, which I have not forgotten about. This was in respect of personalised medicine. I mentioned having the right treatment for the right person at the right time. This approach aims towards that. That is the goal in other healthcare systems and it should be the goal for us also, which is to ensure our research informs practice and personalised medicine. It is very much a goal of the national strategy for accelerating genetic and genomic medicine in Ireland, which was launched in December 2022. A key strategy within that is enhancing our genetic and genomic clinical services, strengthening the infrastructure to drive advances in genetics and genomics, which is very important for researchers, and building our genetics and genomics workforce for the future.

Ensuring public and patient involvement and partnerships in the research is also key, as is a co-ordinated and national approach to genetics and genomics. It is a brilliant time to be part of that.