Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. Our lack of an integrated medical data system, and the staffing to manage it, denies patients with rare diseases in Ireland access to the best possible and most cost-effective medical care in the world today.

This failure to develop and staff a proper medical data system will also exclude Irish people from fully utilising the new EU health data space which is being designed to provide patients with access to new and innovative treatments for cancer and other common diseases that cannot be cured today. Why should Irish patients be denied access to life-saving treatments because the computer in one hospital cannot talk to the other or that the computer in Ireland cannot talk to the computer in Germany or France? We are a global digital leader. Let us ensure that our health service plays its part to benefit all of our patients.

See this speech in context