David Cullinane
Question:517. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost of implementing the rare disease action plan in full. [48666/26]
View answerThursday, 25 June 2026
Questions (517)
Written answers
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As you may be aware, funding of €1.5m was provided in Budget 2025 for the development of supports and services for people living with a rare disease in Ireland. This includes the allocation of approximately 34WTE to support staffing services. An additional €5m in recurrent funding provided to support the implementation of the National Rare Disease Strategy, across all 11 of its recommendations. These funds were allocated to the HSE in 2025 for the development of rare disease services.
The HSE has published its National Service Plan for 2026, setting out how the HSE will operationalise the Department’s priorities funded in Budget 2026, including the key priorities of improved access, quality and safety for those who use our services and value for money for the public more broadly.
In line with the annual estimates and service planning process, specific operational detail and budgetary management of allocated funds is a matter for the HSE, and as such I have referred query to the HSE for direct response.