Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As my colleagues said, Sinn Féin will be supporting this Bill because we recognise the importance of digital transformation in the healthcare system to improve patient safety, modernise the health service, improve accountability and efficiency and provide value for money.

The Bill is a very watered down version of what we need, which is to provide basic shared care records that we are told will be built up into a fully digitised system. The HSE was due to start the digital transformation process in 2015, almost ten years ago. A common feature of our health service is Ministers making big announcements and then providing no funding for the programme. Unfortunately, so far this strategy appears to have fallen victim to that. What guarantee can the Government give us to ensure that this is funded and delivered, and built upon? We are two decades behind most European countries. Will the Minister commit to ring-fencing funding for the new digital health framework? Otherwise, it is doomed to fail.

In 2024, the Irish health service is operating a largely paper-based system, with poor communications and connectivity between services. There have been several instances of paper medical records of patients being found in public places, including in my home town of Drogheda. The Government did not support a business case for electronic health records in 2016, in part to see how it worked in the new children's hospital, which was to be a test case for a fully digital hospital. Now we are in 2024 with no electronic health records and, to the Government's shame, no children's hospital either.

Sinn Féin would ring-fence a significant capital budget and deliver unprecedented investment in digital transformation. It is an area that we want to prioritise. This would mean better tools to collect, use and share health information for patients. We would develop a digital portal so that people could see exactly where they stand on waiting lists and manage their own healthcare. This would give autonomy back to the patient for their own healthcare management.

The amount of waste in the HSE is unbelievable. As a member of the Committee of Public Accounts for many years, I am only too aware of that. By investing now, we can save money, improve efficiencies into the future and improve care for patients. At some stage, could the Minister confirm whether the funding is ring-fenced and when digital transformation will be delivered?

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