Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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2668. To ask the Minister for Health if her Department is considering whether the Stimulating Innovation Management of Polypharmacy and Adherence in The Elderly or SIMPATHY pilot programme, which was evaluated in 2024, is to be mainstreamed; if so, will this be budgeted for in 2026; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47444/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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iSIMPATHY was a €3.1 million EU-funded project which operated across Northern Ireland, Scotland and the border regions of the Republic of Ireland from October 2019 until March 2023. The total budget of €3,520,671 was provided through the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme, with 85% awarded by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and the remaining 15% contributed by the project partners.

Following the project’s completion in 2023, no provision was made for iSIMPATHY within Budget 2024 or Budget 2025.

Work on Budget 2026 is currently underway in my Department. Formal consideration of priorities will take place in the coming weeks, during which a range of factors must be carefully assessed before final decisions are reached.

My Department will give full consideration to all funding requests, for both new and continuing initiatives. I am committed to supporting measures which deliver meaningful and positive improvements to public health. However, as the process for determining Budget 2026 priorities has not yet been concluded, I am unable to comment further at this stage.