David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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578. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost, capital and current, of implementing the digital health framework; the amount by year; the amount currently funded in existing NDP ceilings; and the amount of new funding required. [28670/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Strong progress has been made since the publication of our digital health strategy, 'Digital for Care: A Digital Health Framework for Ireland 2024-2030' in May 2024. Digital for Care describes a clear roadmap on how best to leverage digital to improve the way in which we deliver healthcare services for patients in Ireland.

In February 2025 the first version of the HSE Health app (patient app) was released. This will be followed by regular releases (approximately every quarter) through the Apple and Google app stores. Each release will expand the utility of the app by adding more features and providing patients with access to more information and more of their own health data, over time.

Following an open procurement, the HSE is signing a contract for the technology platform and implementation services required to deliver the National Shared Care Record. The HSE will shortly publish a PIN for the National Electronic Health Record. The HSE also recently published a tender for the provision of a National Electronic Prescribing Solution and associated services.

The HSE has developed a National Data Strategy and are working closely on the development of an AI Strategy for Health, that will be published later this year. All these developments are aligned 'Digital for Care' and are stated as commitments under the Programme for Government.

Digital for Care defined a Vision and Mission for Digital Health in Ireland, supported by six principles that describe how we will deliver on this vision, to guide investment and provide clear direction in building up strong digital health infrastructure and capabilities. It provides a clear stepwise approach to the delivery of electronic health records, which we are now pursuing.

The framework was based on extensive stakeholder engagement and insights from other countries to understand what they have done and how they have used digital to modernise, reform and improve their health service. This includes lessons learned on what worked well as well as what did not.

The purpose of the framework is to provide direction. It does not describe the annual cost, what allocation would be required on an annual basis through NDP capital or revenue funding. However, it does make the point that 'the rate at which we choose to invest in this area will be a key determinant in the pace of roll-out of digital health capabilities and the delivery of the ambition as expressed through this framework'.

The framework also states that ' Through successive national service plans, capital and revenue funding has increased year on year. Delivery of this framework will require this incremental approach to continue through 2030 for the majority of projects, plus additional funding (capital and revenue) and staffing, specifically for the following key areas of investment: National EHRs deployed regionally, Cyber Resilience, National shared care record, Patient Engagement & Patient App, Electronic Prescribing, Telehealth and Virtual Wards, Digital Identities, and Standards & Interoperability.'

For reference, the budget for 2025 increased the allocation for ICT capital from €155m to €190m, with a strong uplift in revenue funding from €270m to €372m, recognising that €100m of this increase had been provided as non core funding in 2024. This represents a significant and steady increase since 2018 when ICT capital funding was €60m.

Furthermore, since 2021, allocations for ICT now include specific funding that is ringfenced every year to address the recommendations of the independent report commissioned by the board of the HSE in the wake of the cyberattack on the health service in May 2021, to build cyber resilience and maintain defences. There are also ongoing obligations to comply with EU-wide legislation on cyber security for operators of essential services, such as the EU Network and Information Systems Directive 2016/1148 and 2022/2555 (NIS1 and NIS2). There is a clear plan each year describing how ringfenced funding will build cyber resilience across the health service, and industry standard mechanism used to measure progress (maturity levels/ cyber 'posture').

There are also other obligations on EU member states to meet emerging regulatory requirements such as the EU AI Act and the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation. These obligations cannot be met without further investment in digital health.

The department of health continue to work closely with the HSE on how best to utilise available funding for digital and in the development of costings for the major programmes of work required to deliver on the ambition set out in the digital health strategic framework.

Finally, the Programme for Government recognises the strategic imperative to increase funding for health digitalisation and I am engaging with the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services, Reform and Digitalisation, in this regard.