Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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649. To ask the Minister for Health the steps each Department is taking to improve data sharing, risk assessment and governance coordination for services involving children, vulnerable adults and high-risk health environments. [64929/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Regarding adults who may be at risk of abuse, safeguarding against abuse is a key objective for me and my Department, every statutory body under its aegis, and for all health and social care services.

A framework of standards, policies and procedures for safeguarding adults in the health and social care sector is already in place. The Programme for Government includes a commitment to publish a national policy on adult safeguarding for the health and social care sector, containing further measures. I hope to bring this policy to Government shortly. This is a very significant development and will provide a framework for strengthening safeguards across all care settings. Importantly, the new policy will commit to the introduction of safeguarding legislation in the sector and will set out, at a high level, proposed new legislative provisions.

Regarding high-risk activities in the health sector, the Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill will, for the first time, introduce a licensing requirement for all acute hospitals, public and private, and certain designated high-risk activities in the community.

The Licensing Bill builds on existing patient safety legislation to ensure that hospitals in Ireland are operating to minimum core standards so that we can have confidence in the safety, quality and effectiveness of the services that are being provided, whether in the public or the private sector. The Bill will also apply to certain designated high-risk activities which are conducted in other settings, such as private clinics. This licensing legislation is intended to strengthen current regulation of health services and will not duplicate existing controls.

Regarding data sharing, the European Health Data Space (EHDS) Regulation will provide a common governance framework and harmonised infrastructure for both the primary and secondary use of electronic health data in and between EU Member States.

The Health Information Bill, which completed Fifth Stage in the Dáil on 19th November 2025, and will proceed to the Seanad shortly, is part of a suite of planned legislative measures to give full effect to the EHDS Regulation. It will provide a legislative basis for the introduction of electronic health records for all patients in Ireland as well as introducing a statutory duty to share personal health data across healthcare settings (public, private and voluntary) for the purposes of care and treatment. It also empowers the HSE to request, from health services providers, health information for specified public interest purposes, including public health and policymaking.