Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1759. To ask the Minister for Health the way in which injured Gazans will be assisted given the Taoiseach remarks indicated in a report (details supplied).; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58319/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Ireland continues a strong tradition of providing humanitarian assistance, including through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Irish Aid humanitarian and development assistance programme and the HSE Global Health Programme.

In September 2024, a Government decision was made that Ireland would evacuate up to 30 paediatric patients from Gaza (under 17 years of age) and their carers out of Egypt, in response to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) request to activate the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) to assist in addressing the Gaza healthcare needs through medical evacuation.

In July 2025, the Government amended the scope of the Gaza Medevac Initiative to allow family members of paediatric patients—parents, minor siblings, or adult dependent siblings of the patient —to obtain visas and permission to enter the State. The Government also agreed to examine other options in addition to Egypt for evacuation of paediatric patients from Gaza.

Since September 2024, Ireland has evacuated 19 paediatric patients and 84 accompanying family members in evacuations from Egypt in December 2024 and May 2025 and from Gaza via Jordan in October 2025.

Such medical evacuations are highly complex, and many factors are subject to challenging, shifting external circumstances. Considerable cooperation among a variety of international stakeholders is necessary to ensure safe and successful operations.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has the primary role of selecting patients for overseas medical evacuation. In consultation with WHO and other partners, the Ministry for Health in Gaza follows a strict set of criteria for selecting patients to be evacuated.

Only paediatric patients are considered for the Irish Gaza Medevac Initiative. Paediatric patients are selected by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) from the WHO medevac-approved list, strictly subject to treatment capacity in the HSE and CHI.

Once CHI has confirmed that the selection criteria are met, offers of medical evacuation are made. If accepted, relevant authorities work to secure all required documentation and permits to allow the patient and their family members to be evacuated. Plans are drawn up to carry out the complex medical evacuation in cooperation with key organisations on the ground and in Ireland.

This is the process that has been followed in all medical evacuations to date and which will inform all future medical evacuations carried out by Ireland under the Gaza Medevac Initiative. In addition, there are many elements of an evacuation that are not within the control of the WHO or the participating European countries.

My Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, the Irish Red Cross, the HSE, CHI and international organisations will continue to work closely to deliver on the Government's commitment of evacuating up to 30 paediatric patients from Gaza and their families.