Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 November 2025
1153. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has considered the impact of patients attending private hospitals being excluded from national statistics; the steps planned to ensure complete data for service planning; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64020/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra1154. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Health the measures being taken to capture patient information from private hospitals to address gaps in national statistics, particularly for neurological conditions, to provide a complete picture of healthcare needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [64021/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1153 and 1154 together.
My Department submits national healthcare statistics annually to Eurostat in fulfilment of the European Regulation (EU) 2022/2294, as regards statistics on healthcare facilities, healthcare human resources and healthcare utilisation. These statistics are onward shared with OECD and WHO and are available on the databases of these international organisations. My Department also publishes this data directly and the 2025 National Healthcare Statistics and metadata are available at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-health/collections/national-healthcare-statistics-2025/.
From reference year 2020 onwards, Ireland’s statistics under this Regulation included private sector activity, whenever available. This has been possible through my Department’s engagement with private hospitals in Ireland since 2019. Furthermore, through this same engagement, my Department is still working with the private hospitals to further its reporting through both anonymised and aggregated data in order to fulfil its European statistical regulatory requirements.
The Deputy may also wish to note that 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 Dáil Committee Stage in July, and will proceed to Dáil Report Stage 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 (including private providers with whom it has entered into an arrangement to provide health services), health information for specified public interest purposes, including public health and policymaking.
