Shingles Vaccination Programme: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Joe Conway (IND), Cultural and Educational Panel

I move:
That Seanad Éireann: acknowledges that:
- shingles affects one in three people in their lifetime;
- adults aged 50+, especially those with weakened immune systems, are much more likely to develop severe disease;
- post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), a complication causing severe nerve pain lasting months or years, can significantly undermine mobility, sleep, mental well-being, social participation and independent living;
- the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) 2024 public consultation on the addition of the shingles vaccination to the adult vaccination programme included multiple testimonies from older adults living with life-limiting pain due to PHN;
- the Shingrix vaccine substantially reduces the risk of shingles and PHN; however, in Ireland it costs €480-€500, making it inaccessible for many older people, particularly those living on the State pension;
- older people with weakened immune systems, such as those receiving cancer treatment, are particularly predisposed to shingles and, as a result, can live out the remainder of their lives in extreme pain from PHN, as raised by a number of respondents to HIQA’s public consultation;
notes that:
- in February 2024, the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) recommended the shingles vaccination for all adults aged 65 and over;
- in July 2024, HIQA concluded that extending the programme to adults aged 50+ would not be an efficient use of HSE resources;
- as no publicly funded programme has been implemented, older people must pay privately;
- many countries, including the UK, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Australia, already provide shingles vaccinations free of charge to older adults; Ireland is becoming an outlier in the prevention of this avoidable illness;
- while the NIAC has recommended vaccination for those aged 65+, HIQA’s Health Technology Assessment modelled a much broader cohort of adults aged 50+;
- a targeted age-focused vaccination programme for adults aged 65 and over, the specific group NIAC identified, has not been formally assessed;
- this creates a clear evidence gap as the Department of Health cannot state that the NIAC recommended 65+ programme is not cost effective when it has not been individually modelled;
- the public consultation response also highlighted that the €480-€500 vaccine cost is prohibitive for many older people, especially those on fixed incomes;
- the public consultation also highlighted PHN’s impact on mobility, social engagement, mental well-being, independence, and quality of life as significant and not fully captured in standard cost-effectiveness modelling;
calls on the Government to:
- urgently reconsider the determination that the shingles vaccination is not an efficient use of HSE resources;
- include the shingles vaccination for adults aged 65 and over in the National Immunisation Programme, in line with NIAC recommendations and international best practice; and
- requests that the Department of Health revisit the Health Technology Assessment with a specific 65+ model.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:35+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05