Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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164. To ask the Minister for Health the reason research in motor neuron disease is not funded by the HSE (details supplied). [11029/19]

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is one of the rarest neurological conditions, with a poor prognosis; 70 per cent of people with the most common form of MND (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)) will die within three years from becoming symptomatic. In Ireland, approximately 110 people die each year from MND.

The Health Research Board (HRB) is Ireland's lead agency for funding and support for health research. Over the period 2009-2018, HRB awarded €9,728,407 to research specific to ALS/MND and a further €4,717,366 to mechanisms of disease related to neurodegeneration. Research activity covered by this funding spanned applied biomedical, clinical, population health sciences and health services research and examined the causes, progression, clinical treatment and management of the disease. The level of funding disbursed by the HRB for ALS/MND and neurodegeneration more generally, reflects a strong level of interest and expertise in these areas in the Irish health research system.