Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 June 2026
208. Deputy Liam Quaide asked the Minister for Health to provide details on her Department's plans for the Applied Partnership Awards-Women's Health in 2027; whether it will run again next year to allow researchers to plan ahead; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46108/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraA ringfenced €2 million has been approved in funding for the HRB Applied Partnerships Award Scheme specifically for Women’s Health. Up to €1 million from the Department of Health’s Women's Health Fund will be made available for the Women’s Health Applied Partnership Scheme for both 2026 and 2027.
Research themes have been determined and are informed by Ministerial priorities, outcomes of various listening exercises with women, the work of the Women’s Health Taskforce and the HRB’s Women’s health outcomes: An evidence and gap map review commissioned by the Department and published in 2025.
While the research call will cover women’s health generally, specific policy themes have also been identified.
• Postpartum Mental Health, with a particular focus on traumatic births
• Endometriosis
• Menstruation
• Culturally sensitive Healthcare, Intersectional impacts on Women’s Health
The applied partnership call went out to the research community in January 2026 with a deadline submission date of the end of March 2026.
The call received a strong response, with representation across each of the four priority areas as well as other areas of women’s health.
An eligibility check has commenced on the applications. On the basis of the number of applications submitted, HRB are confident that there will be multiple awards recommended for funding by the panel this autumn.
Historic exclusion of women from medical research has implications for diagnosis and treatment of disease in women, as a result of the lack of knowledge on how particular conditions and treatments impact women.
The Department of Health has been working to address this through its two Women’s Health Action Plans, published in 2022 and 2024. Both Action Plans have a specific action to grow the evidence base for women’s health approaches in Ireland by supporting research in this area. The 3rd Women’s Health Action plan 2026-2027, due to publish in July, will also have a continued focus on research in all areas of Women’s Health.
The women’s health programme has sought to address the research gaps in recent years with a number of research projects supported to better inform the development of policy. The new Applied Partnership Awards in Women’s Health Research represent a more structured and strategic approach to commissioning research in this area.
