Departmental Policies
Dail Éireann — 2023-05-09
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Stephen Donnelly (FF), Wicklow

The Government and the Department of Health are fully committed to improving genetics services in Ireland, including at CHI Crumlin. In 2023, I allocated €2.7 million to implement the National Strategy for Accelerating Genetics and Genomics Medicine in Ireland, including the establishment of a National Office of Genetics and Genomics and the recruitment of key staff within the National Office and the wider genomics service.
A priority for 2023 is to ensure that key frontline staff and National Office roles are recruited. Appointment of staff to the National Office for Genetics and Genomics is underway. To accelerate the establishment of this office, interim appointments will be made for the senior positions in the first instance. The Interim National Director has now been appointed and commenced in post. The interview process for the Interim National Bio-Informatics Director has commenced.
Regarding the matters raised by Deputy Paul Murphy, it is my firm view that Ministers are accountable to the Dáil and should make statements and take questions about their actions. However, if it is the case that Ministers are accountable to the Dáil for actions that do not relate to their work as Ministers, that should apply to all Deputies and all Deputies should be willing to answer questions here in the Dáil and make statements.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2023-05-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-05-09