Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

735. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to increase public investment in public health and medical research in view of Covid-19; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22647/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department plays a lead role in public health and medical research in Ireland. The Department supports research in these areas through the Health Research Board (HRB), a statutory body under the aegis of the Department and a lead agency in Ireland supporting and funding health research. With an annual budget of approximately €45 million, and management of an investment portfolio of approximately €200m, the HRB supports the conduct of clinical research and clinical trials, health services research, population health research, as well as managing a number of national health information systems on behalf of the Department. Furthermore, my Department provides funding for, and participates in, a multi annual Joint Research Programme in Healthcare Reform with the Economic and Social Research Institute, as well as the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the HRB, as well as the aforementioned established research programmes, have incorporated COVID -19 related research into their work programmes and have already played an important role (among other agencies and the wider academic community) in providing research inputs to the various sub-groups of the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). Therefore, increased research in this area is being funded through existing allocations. Increasing allocation of funding to account for the requirements for increased COVID - 19 research is currently being determined as part of the budget 2021 process.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.