Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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416. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to develop a national policy on ME; and if so, the timeline for the publication of such a policy [23233/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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There are no plans to develop a single specific policy on ME in Ireland. The work of the all-party Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare has provided us a platform for achieving consensus on a long-term vision for our health service. Its report, Sláintecare, presents a ten-year vision to transform Ireland’s health and social care services providing the framework for a system-wide reform programme.

One of the goals of Sláintecare is to provide high quality, accessible and safe care that meets the needs of the population irrespective of the disease or illness in question. This will necessitate improving population health-based planning and developing new models of care to deliver more effective and integrated care, expanding community-based care to bring that care closer to home. The further development and modernisation of the acute care system will also be required to address current capacity challenges and increase integration between the hospital sector and community-based care. There will also be an expansion of eligibility on a phased basis to move towards universal healthcare and support a shift to community-based care.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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417. To ask the Minister for Health if the HSE will adopt international guidelines on ME such as the International Consensus Criteria; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23234/19]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy.