Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All section 38 and voluntary hospitals are expected to proactively co-operate with the implementation of IFMS and other key national systems. Service arrangements entered into between the HSE and voluntary hospitals now specifically commit to the introduction and implementation of IFMS and contain various provisions that outline the level of co-operation required to ensure appropriate levels of monitoring and governance, without prejudice to their independence and autonomy.

As with our engagements with private hospitals, I am happy to update Senators on Committee Stage on the HSE's progress in securing sign-off on service-level agreements, SLAs. We are doing it quite differently this year. It had been the case that voluntary hospitals received their SLA too late and also signed it too late. This time, the hospitals received the SLA within 2025 for 2026 and they were given instructions that we expected them to be returned by 15 January. I will update Senators on the progress of that process on Committee Stage.

While the adoption of IFMS is progressing through the service level agreements, this legislation will provide absolute clarity in law in respect of the HSE's authority to request and receive health information. That is why it is really important. I will have to come back to the details because I do not want to go over the time.