Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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299. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if the national health innovation hub is still in operation. [6707/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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The National Health Innovation Hub (Health Innovation Hub Ireland), a joint initiative of the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Health, was launched in September 2016 following a competitive process.  Health Innovation Hub Ireland involves a consortium of formal collaborators which include University College Cork, Cork Institute of Technology, National University of Ireland Galway, and Trinity College Dublin, and their associated Clinical Research Facilities (Cork, Galway, Dublin) and their Hospital Groups, with associated Primary Care Centres, Community Health Organisations, Pharmacies and HSE support infrastructures. The consortium is highly complementary, with each collaborator offering unique capabilities and access to key stakeholders, enabling delivery of projects on the ground at multiple locations in Ireland.

Health Innovation Hub Ireland supports healthcare companies and entrepreneurs in validating and refining products and services in a real-life environment by facilitating access to the health service, and supports innovative ideas from healthcare practitioners.  Funding has been secured from within the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation’s allocation and, through Enterprise Ireland, €5m is being provided over five years (€1m per annum.) The HSE provides in-kind support including clinician time and hospital engagement, along with staff assigned to work in the Hub.  This pioneering partnership involves a unified approach by both Departments, working with private sector companies and the health service to enable the development of groundbreaking Irish healthcare products and services for the benefit of Irish patients, while importantly also supporting job creation.