Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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505. To ask the Minister for Health if he will assist the funding of clinical trials for multiple sulfatase deficiency (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3191/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Health does not provide direct funding for the conduct of clinical trials in Ireland or overseas.

However, since 2006, the Department has provided funding to the Health Research Board (HRB) to support charity-led research through a Joint Funding Scheme with the Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG), a national organization of charities active in medical research.

This innovative funding scheme allows members of the MRCG to support research of particular interest to specific patient populations, where they might otherwise not be in a position to finance the full cost of that research. The scheme has been particularly beneficial for rare diseases where research being undertaken internationally may be limited and where charities wishing to contribute to the research agenda need to fund research projects led from outside Ireland.

Further details of MRCG membership and the MRCG/HRB Joint Funding Scheme are available at www.mrcg.ie.