John Perry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 94: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans to establish information technology links between primary and secondary care settings; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6192/07]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 155: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans to introduce information technology links, such as discharge letters, to improve communication with general practitioners; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6195/07]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 167: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans to establish information technology links between out-patient departments and general practice facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6194/07]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 193: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans to establish information technology links between hospital laboratories and general practice facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6193/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 94, 155, 167 and 193 together.

There have been significant advances in the deployment of ICT in healthcare in recent years but there remains significant scope to further expand the use of ICT. In order to support this approach, capital funding of €490 million is being provided for Health Information and Communications Technology under the National Development Plan 2007-2013.

The Primary Care Strategy included a commitment to provide improved ICT infrastructure for primary care teams. This was reaffirmed in the National Health Information Strategy.

In 2004, my Department and the HSE jointly led the preparation of an ICT Strategy for Primary Care. This will be used to inform the HSE's ICT development plans for the primary, community and continuing care sector. The HSE already supports computer links between hospitals and primary care providers, including GPs. The message types supported include laboratory results, radiology results, discharge letters and outpatient department appointments.

At present in excess of 1,000 GPs transmit and receive over 3 million electronic messages annually. The HSE intends to build upon the experience gained in these projects to further enhance and support electronic links between primary and secondary care.