Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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1158. To ask the Minister for Health further to his statement of 18 September 2024 (details supplied), the number of children evacuated from Gaza to Ireland to date; the number of children identified who have yet to be evacuated; when it is expected that such children will arrive in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44603/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Proposed Reply

Government approval was received on 18 September 2024, to facilitate Ireland’s participation in the response to the World Health Organisation (WHO) request to address the current health needs of people from Gaza, through the medical evacuation of 30 paediatric patients together with an accompanying family member and provision of associated supports.

My Officials have worked closely with other Government Departments and the Health Service Executive (HSE), including the Departments of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Defence and Social Protection to finalise the proposals.

Ireland has a strong tradition of providing humanitarian assistance, including through the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Irish Aid humanitarian and development assistance programme and the Health Service Executive (HSE) Global Health Programme.

Procedures for medical evacuations to Ireland are well established in the Ukraine context. Medical evacuation requests are managed through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), with the HSE managing the clinical support of the injured patient and other departments and agencies responding to the ancillary support needs.

Following the Government approval on 18 September, Ireland will be opting in on a case-by-case basis for each child who requires treatment, subject to the necessary health services capacity being available at that time. The HSE has advised that while health service daily capacity is dynamic and subject to change, the HSE is positioned to provide treatment options, following the Government decision.

The HSE is currently assessing requests for medical evacuation and, where suitable, make offers of medical assistance that will then be required to be accepted by the patients/carers with the assistance of their representative bodies before the request is agreed.

The HSE is expecting to make the first round of offers to patients in the coming weeks, once the necessary medical records are received through the Ministry for Health in Egypt. To date no patients have been evacuated to Ireland.

Requests for medical evacuation to the EU structures can receive offers from any participating EU Member State and it is up to the carer (acting on behalf of the paediatric patient) to decide which country they wish to be medical evacuated to. It is noted that Ireland made up to 140 offers for medical evacuation to Ireland from Ukraine and 40 of these offers were accepted.