Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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346. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the co-operation activities carried out under the memorandum of understanding on health regulation, traditional Chinese medicine, training, promotion, hospital standards, and so on, with the People's Republic of China since August 2012; if further agreements are being negotiated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4160/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on health co-operation between the Department of Health of Ireland and the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China was signed by both Ministers at a bilateral meeting in China on 16 August 2012. The Memorandum replaced a previous MOU which covered the period 2004 to 2009. The objective of the MOU is to encourage and develop co-operation and exchange in the field of healthcare between the two countries.

The areas of co-operation set out in the Memorandum 2012-2017 are:

1. Health regulation;

2. eHealth and telemedicine;

3. Medical professional training;

4. Health promotion;

5. Maternal and child health;

6. Hospital standards; and

7. Traditional Chinese medicine.

The MOU is valid until 2017. There is currently no further agreement under discussion.

Ireland enjoys a strong and growing bilateral relationship with China. Since the Ministerial visit to China in 2012 there was a return visit of a Chinese delegation, headed by the Chinese Minister for Health, to Dublin in May 2013. There was also a high level visit from senior health officials from Shanghai in May 2015. These visits allowed the Chinese delegations to discuss health policy with the Minister and health officials and to visit hospital, primary and community services to see these services first hand and to meet the health professionals responsible for the delivery of these services to exchange views and experiences.

In addition, the Department facilitates, where possible, requests from Chinese delegations to discuss and share experiences on health matters.