Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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141. To ask the Minister for Health if he will update Dáil Éireann on his Department's review of proposals to establish a north-south deep brain stimulation service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30021/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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As stated to this House on 16 April 2013, the health technology assessment conducted by the Health Information and Quality Authority and published in 2012 found that the cost of a national deep brain stimulation (DBS) programme in Ireland would exceed the cost of continuing to fund DBS through the Treatment Abroad Scheme (TAS) by approximately €21,000 per patient over 10 years. Over five years, the incremental budget impact of a national DBS service would be €1.84 million more than the estimated €4.29 million required to treat the same number of patients through the TAS.

No formal proposal has been received from the Health Service Executive in relation to the development of a cross border DBS service. However, mindful of the potential of cross border collaboration to improve the quality of service and value for money, officials from my Department are making initial enquiries of their Northern counterparts as to the potential for the development of a collaborative service in this area.