Ireland ranks last among EU member states because for so long we have not recognised the need to prioritise investment in digital health as a key enabler for reform of the health service and the need to meet the expectation of patients (and the clinicians who treat) that they should have better access to their own health information. There have always been competing demands for investment in different parts of the health service and that is a legitimate issue.
The 'Digital for Care (2024 - 2030)' strategic framework, published in 2024, sets out a clear roadmap to address this challenge. Evidence from other countries is very clear. To make progress in digital health as a key enabler for reform, and to provide better access to data required a sustained commitment in terms of leadership, vision, investment and expertise to deliver.
We are already seeing tangible improvements. Whilst still ranked behind other EU member states, the EU Digital decade scores for Ireland have improved from 0% in 2022 to 11.5% in 2023, 24.5% in 2024 and we expect the score for 2025 will be 44% (a 79% improvement over 2023). No other country is demonstrating this rate of progress and we are conscious that demonstrating this rate of improvement will get harder as scores get higher. We will nonetheless maintain our focus to improve significantly every year and over the lifetime of Digital for Care and beyond that.
