Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
252. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence the policy or governance framework that applies when Ministers or officials undertake State travel to regions with identified health risks, including malaria; and the date on which this framework was last reviewed. [72513/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra253. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence whether his Department conducted a search of its records, including briefing files, archival material and travel documentation, before confirming that no medical advice, briefing notes or risk assessments had been issued in the past twenty years in relation to anti-malaria medications, and to outline the scope of that search. [72514/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra254. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence the duty-of-care standards applied by his Department when approving official overseas travel for Ministers or officials to malaria-risk regions, including any requirement to provide general travel-risk information or to reference external public-health guidance. [72515/25]
Amharc ar fhreagra255. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Defence if his Department has ever issued, received or referenced general travel-risk information from other Government Departments or public-health bodies when preparing international travel for Ministers or officials, and the process for retaining such information within departmental records. [72516/25]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 252, 253, 254 and 255 together.
There is no specific policy covering the travel of Ministers or officials in respect of travel to regions with identified health risks. When officials or Ministers are travelling abroad, the travel information available to all citizens travelling abroad, provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is available to them. In instances where foreign travel may involve health related considerations, it is for the Minister and officials concerned to seek guidance from their own medical advisers, if required.
As I have previously advised the Deputy, the most recent travel by a Minister for Defence, to a higher-risk region in Africa, was in 2019, when Minister Simon Coveney visited Mali. It is a matter for the individual Minister or official to make decisions in relation to their ability to travel having regard to their own particular medical history and advice from their medical adviser. This does not form part of any formal approval process as the matter is subject to personal medical information.
In response to the Deputy’s previous questions on this matter, I informed him of the Department’s record keeping requirements for ministerial travel do not extend to maintaining medical records of Ministers or officials, which are private to the individual and handled in accordance with normal medical confidentiality standards. As this is the approach taken to such matters, it was not necessary, nor would it be practical to carry out a widespread search for records of Ministers, or for records of any official who may have undertaken travel with a Minister over a period of 20 years.
Briefing material provided to Ministers and officials in respect of individual trips, which would largely encompass material pertinent to the meetings to be attended, is retained in accordance with the Department’s Records Management policy.
