David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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1800. To ask the Minister for Health if he is reviewing the Memorandum of Understanding with his colleague in the Northern Ireland Executive; the status of the performance of same; the extent to which information and data on testing, tracing and inbound travellers has been shared under the Memorandum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15479/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There has been, and continues to be, significant engagement and cooperation between the Ministers for Health, the Chief Medical Officers, and the Departments of Health in Ireland and Northern Ireland throughout this pandemic. Both administrations are seeking to adopt similar approaches, where it is appropriate to do so and on the advice of respective Chief Medical Officers. This approach is underpinned a Memorandum of Understanding agreed by the Chief Medical Officers of the Department of Health and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland in April 2020 to strengthen North South co-operation on the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Within this framework, the respective CMOs and their teams hold a weekly technical meeting regarding cooperation in the public health response. These meetings typically involve information sharing on the epidemiological situation in the respective jurisdictions, trends in case numbers and the profile of the disease, updates on respective vaccination programmes, and international travel. In November, this overarching agreement was supplemented with a further Memorandum of Understanding in relation to a framework for mutual support for the provision of critical care.

Discussions between my Department and the Public Health Agency in relation to a Data Sharing Agreement for transferring data from Irish PLFs to Northern Ireland to assist in their public health efforts are at an advanced stage.

There is also an established process in place for sharing of necessary details between the Public Health Agency NI and HSE in respect of people who may have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive in either jurisdiction.

Through the Memorandum of Understanding, there has been pragmatic and constructive engagement between the respective Chief Medical Officers and their teams. We recognise the benefit and necessity in continuing this close cooperation between the Northern Ireland Executive and the Irish Government in order to best manage the increasingly serious pressures facing healthcare.