Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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585. To ask the Minister for Health to provide on update on the Programme for Government commitment on the development and targeted expansion and availability of step-down facilities across each of the CHO areas, since the establishment of the Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2476/24]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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586. To ask the Minister for Health to provide on update on the Programme for Government commitment to develop and support eHealth and the increased use of assistive technologies, supporting people to live independently, across each of the CHO areas, since the establishment of the Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2477/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The provision of digital health solutions is a fundamental enabler for the reform of the health service and the implementation of Sláintecare.

Digital health solutions played a key role during the Covid-19 pandemic with solutions developed to facilitate monitoring and managing the spread of infection as well as the administration of vaccines when they became available. Many other digitally enabled services were deployed such as digital COVID certificates, electronic referrals from GPs for those who needed testing and electronic transfer of prescriptions to reduce close contacts and support social distancing.

Government has continued to support eHealth in recent years by increasing both capital and revenue funding provided for ICT and digital health. Investment in Capital funding has increased from €60 million in 2018 to €155 million in 2024. (Capital funding for ICT was just €40m in 2012).

A new digital health strategy for Ireland (Digital Health Strategic Framework (2024-2030) is currently being finalised by the Department of Health. It will set out a shared vision and guide a clear roadmap for investment in digital health, including delivery of digital patient records. The framework will be supported by rolling delivery plans developed by the Health Service Executive to achieve the desired level of accelerated digitalisation of health and social care services in future years.

Through the delivery of the Digital Health & Social Care Strategic Framework, we will continue to invest strategically in our digital health infrastructure, evaluate and invest in emerging technologies, integrate our systems for better security and collaboration and develop new ways of working through innovation.

The Framework will put a greater focus on empowering our patients to take greater control of their own health and wellbeing by providing access to their own digital health record. We will also offer more choice by delivering more services through digital channels, where it is safe to do so.

The framework is being developed in parallel with the Health Information Bill, which will be completed shortly. The Bill aims to deliver patient-centred integrated care, improve performance and innovation in the health service, and support digital and data initiatives in healthcare.

Digital Health Technology has matured over the last number of years and many health care organisations have adopted some aspects of digital health from video and phone consultation to remote health monitoring. In October 2023, the National Telehealth Steering Committee approved the HSE Telehealth Roadmap 2024-2027. The official launch took place at the Better Together for Digital Healthcare Conference on 1 December 2023.

A public procurement process is underway to establish a framework that different parts of the health service can use to select and deploy suitable telehealth platforms. There are 14 proposed telehealth sub-projects focussed on reducing demand for hospital beds through a combination of hospital admission avoidance and reduced length of stay. Initially these projects aim to address the needs of between 10 and 20 patients per month, but this will be scaled up rapidly if the model is successful. The sub-projects target a range of disciplines including Respiratory, Cardiology and Renal initiatives. An example is support for Remote Health Monitoring on the islands, in this case in Achill.

Separately, under the National Dementia Strategy, the Government has funded a national network of 29 Memory Technology Resource Rooms (MTRRs) which provide free occupational therapist assessments and advice on assistive technology, to help people adapt to their condition and maintain a degree of independence for as long as possible, while also providing support to family carers. The MTRRs are an important component of the post-diagnostic support framework set out in the Model of Care for Dementia which was published in May of last year.