Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 February 2026
565. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current stage of development of the National Health Threats Preparedness Plan; including the responsible Division; the anticipated publication date; whether draft Heads have been prepared; and whether the Plan will be placed on a statutory footing. [15900/26]
View answer566. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1121 of 7 February 2026, to list the pandemic preparedness simulation exercises that have taken place since 2022; including the date; organising authority; participating State bodies, whether an after-action report was completed, and whether any such reports were submitted to her Department. [15901/26]
View answer567. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the key performance indicators her Department uses to monitor national preparedness for emerging health threats; the date each indicator was first adopted; and the most recent reporting date for each indicator to the Minister. [15902/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 565, 566 and 567 together.
The Department of Health is currently working to develop a National Health Threats Prevention, Preparedness and Response Plan. This Plan will be informed by the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment (PHEPA) ECDC Mission to Ireland in June 2026 and subsequent recommendations for Ireland. PHEPA Missions aim to strengthen prevention, preparedness, and response planning across all Member States in the EU by providing evidence-based recommendations for preparedness.
This work falls under our obligations under the Serious Cross-Border Threats to Health Regulation (2022/2371). The Office of the Chief Medical Officer has responsibility for developing the plan, in consultation with key stakeholders.
As part of its work on health threat preparedness, my Department has participated in a number of Emergency Response Preparedness simulation exercises at a national, all-island, and EU level. The HSE’s Exercise PANDORA, held on 6 March 2025, was a national command post exercise designed to exercise the HSE’s response capabilities to an escalating highly pathogenic avian influenza emergency, informed by the HSE Operational Pandemic Plan (HSE OPP). The aim of the exercise was to assess operationalisation of the HSE OPP.
A report on this exercise was compiled by the HSE and submitted to the Chief Medical Officer in my Department on 21 July 2025. The outcomes of this report are helping to enhance pandemic preparedness both within the HSE and within my Department.
My Department also participated in an EU-level simulation exercise run by DG HERA in 2025 to test preparedness for cross-border health threats, focusing on access to medical countermeasures during an avian influenza scenario. As these simulations were not run by my Department, their publication is a matter for those organisations.
My Department continues to monitor and prepare for emerging cross-border health threats in conjunction with the Health Protection Security Centre of the HSE, the European Commission, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organisation.
