Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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385. To ask the Minister for Health if he will increase the level of investment for cancer trials in the coming year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30201/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Since 2005, the Health Research Board (HRB), a statutory agency under the aegis of my Department, has invested approximately €53m in the development of a network of cancer clinical trials in hospitals across Ireland.

The aims of this initiative are to ensure that a significant proportion of patients have the option to participate in the latest clinical trials, to improve the quality of care and access to the latest therapies and to establish a coordinated approach to cancer trials.

The HRB funding is provided to Clinical Trials Ireland (CTI) to support clinical trials at hospital sites, as well as the CTI Group Central Office and a Statistics and Data Management Office based in Galway. The HRB is committed to investing a further €8.995m in Clinical Trials Ireland, and €1.284m in the Statistics and Data Management Office, in the three years from 2016 to 2018.