David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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64. To ask the Minister for Health when she will publish the review of specialist cardiac services; when she will publish a comprehensive cardiovascular health strategy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10077/25]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister outline when the national review of cardiac services conducted by Professor Nolan and his team will be published? I sat in a meeting in 2019, when Deputy Simon Harris was the Minister for Health, with Oireachtas Members from across the south-east and at that point, that review had been commissioned. Here we are, in 2025, and it still has not been published. It was sitting on the previous Minister’s desk for at least nine months. I got a commitment last year that this would be published very quickly - within a matter of weeks - yet it still has not been published. When will it be published?

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The national review of adult specialist cardiac services is finalised. The review provides a detailed, evidence-driven analysis of cardiac services across the country. A wide range of stakeholders - clinical, patient and public - were consulted as part of the review. The review provides recommendations around cardiac health policy, specifically: patient-centred care integrated with Sláintecare; increased cardiac care in community settings; a focus on prevention; capital investment for non-invasive diagnostics and imaging, including ehealth; structural reform to develop regional cardiac networks and national comprehensive cardiac centres; and leadership and governance.

Publication of the review, which is very important, will facilitate the development of the new national cardiovascular strategy. That will take time to develop and will require significant reform to ensure effectiveness and sustainability. I am reviewing the report and I hope to meet the authors shortly. Yesterday, at St. Michael's Hospital, we met Professor Ken McDonald, who is one of the people involved, and I hope to have the opportunity to meet with them when I return from my St. Patrick's Day engagements. I would anticipate publishing it shortly thereafter.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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The problem is that I have been told that on at least three occasions. I know the report was with the previous Minister for Health for most of last year. Deputy Carroll MacNeill is a new Minister coming in but there is continuity in that this report has been sitting on the Department's desk. It is not going to be the new national cardiovascular strategy because that strategy has to look at prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation care, whereas this report was specifically set up to look at acute services and, as the Minister said, the regional cardiac networks. As the Minister knows, part of that is relevant to my constituency in the south east. We still do not have 24-7 emergency cardiac services. If people are unfortunate enough to have a heart attack at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. on any day of the week or at the weekend in Waterford, their only option is to be sent by ambulance to Cork or Dublin. Obviously, and rightly so, there is a campaign for a full 24-7 cardiac service.

This needs to be published as quickly as possible. The Minister has not answered the question as to why it has taken so long. The review was commissioned in 2019 and it is now 2025. It has been sitting on the Minister’s desk and we are now told again that it will be a number of weeks.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I cannot answer why it has not been done to date but I commit to the Deputy that it will be done and, naturally, I would welcome his engagement on it when it is published. I will be meeting the people involved when I come back from the St. Patrick's Day trip. I look forward to getting it published then because, as the Deputy says, it is incredibly important that it is done.

Recent trends in the demand for cardiac services reflect the changes in population and the health needs of an ageing population, which considerably changes the profile of need. The demand for emergency cardiac interventions is declining but the demand for non-acute services, such as the management of chronic disease, is increasing and we need a balance in terms of how to deliver the best service. We will need to carefully consider the number, location and resourcing of emergency heart attack centres to ensure that a balance can be achieved between accessibility and the provision of safe, efficient services. Cardiovascular health is a major pillar of the health funding announced in budget 2025, which included over €9 million in full-year costs to support important cardiovascular health initiatives. As the Deputy said, the publication of this review is a precursor of that, which I recognise.

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste previously said several times in this House that, in principle, they support 24-7 cardiac services for the south east. In fact, the current Taoiseach stood behind a banner essentially saying that his party would deliver the 24-7 cardiac service. I know that is going to require additional resources and additional consultants but we need a policy decision. I am asking Deputy Carroll MacNeill a straight question. She is now the Minister for Health. Is she committed in principle to a full, 24-7 cardiac service in the south-east? That is the first question.

Second, it was stated in the programme for Government and also during the course of the election campaign that the Government is in favour of multi-annual funding for the health service. If we are in favour of multi-annual funding, then I hope the Minister will set out a very clear five-year strategy of ring-fenced funding for cardiovascular care and the many other national strategies that are needed to ensure that consistency and certainty of funding are there. Cardiac problems are the second biggest killer so this is very important. We have not had a strategy since 2019 and this report has been held up. The Minister said she will look at it. I accept that she is new in the role but there is an urgency here. I hope that when she comes back from the St. Patrick's Day visit, she will publish that report and move to the next stage of developing new strategies as quickly as possible.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I could not agree more about the need for a dedicated cardiovascular strategy and the multi-annual funding to facilitate that. With regard to Waterford, I have a small update. After an extensive recruitment campaign, we now have two labs open. One of those, from 18 March, will open with extended, albeit not 24-hour, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.-----

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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I am aware of that.

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I know the Deputy is aware but I want to inform the House more broadly. The other lab will provide elective services five days a week and the two labs together will protect better against both emergencies and elective issues. That is a major step in what the Deputy correctly acknowledges is a long-standing need.

With regard to 24-hour care, I am very open to providing the best care possible. I want to see what is in the cardiac review and to make sure we have the resources there, but I also want to ensure they are doing enough procedures to ensure that patient safety is encompassed within that. I am keen to work with the Deputy on delivering both of those things as we move to that point, while recognising that enough procedures must be happening all of the time to ensure it is a safe place to do that.