I propose to take Questions Nos. 560, 561, 562 and 564 together.
The Report of the Emerging Health Threats Function Expert Steering Group provided a number of recommendations to help ensure that Ireland’s health protection function is optimally designed to support the State’s response to future pandemics and other public health emergencies.
I can confirm that work is ongoing in relation to the implementation of the recommendations in the Expert Steering Group Report, requiring action by both the Department and the HSE.
In response to the Report’s recommendations, the Department of Health established a Health Threats Advisory Committee in April 2025. This Committee will provide public health advice to my Department, Government, and other key stakeholders, to inform and support the implementation of response actions to a public health emergency. The membership of HTAC is comprised of senior decision makers from my Department, the HSE and external academic experts and is chaired by the Interim Chief Medical Officer, Prof. Mary Horgan.
The Group has met a total of four times to date. Terms of Reference for the Group have been drafted and are scheduled to be formally adopted by the Group at its next meeting.
A key recommendation of the ESG Report is to establish a dedicated evidence synthesis mechanism for pandemic preparedness and response. Further to approval of a proposal by the Health Research Board, my Department agreed at the end of 2025 to support the establishment of an Evidence Synthesis Hub for Health Threats in Ireland, to be housed within Evidence Synthesis Ireland. Funding of €850,000 has been provided by the Department through the HRB for the first year of this initiative, subject to satisfactory reporting against the agreed deliverables. Monitoring and management of the grant to Evidence Synthesis Ireland will be carried out by the HRB. My Department is establishing an Oversight Group, chaired by the Interim CMO, to set overall policy priorities for evidence synthesis needs to support national preparedness and management of health threats and to elicit and prioritise evidence products (and time windows) and provide feedback on completed products.
The establishment of an Evidence Synthesis Hub for Health Threats in Ireland is a significant and critical component of Ireland’s health threat advisory and management structures. At present, the full terms of reference, oversight and governance structures are being developed and it is hoped that the work of the evidence synthesis will build over the course of 2026 as it becomes fully operational, inclusive of appropriate governance, reporting and commissioning structures.
