Medical Aids and Appliances
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-14
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I thank Senator Curley for raising this important matter. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.
The State acknowledges the importance of access to new and innovative medicines and medical devices for patients and is acutely aware of the challenges patients diagnosed with diabetes face. By way of background, continuous glucose monitoring, CGM, systems provide an alternative approach to self-monitoring of blood glucose using blood glucose test strips with an associated blood glucose meter. These CGM systems comprise of sensors, transmitters and a mechanism to display the results such as readers, receivers or a smart device application.
Under the Health Act 2007, the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, has a statutory remit to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of health technologies and provide advice to the Minister for Health. HIQA conducts health technology assessments for programmes and services at the specific request of the HSE or the Department of Health, which may include medical devices. Reimbursement support for CGM sensors at this point in time is based on the HIQA health technology assessment and is for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus regardless of age, who have required insulin from the outset. Reimbursement does not extend to other cohorts such as people with type 2 diabetes who require insulin, which is the issue the Senator is raising today, or patients previously diagnosed with type 2 diabetes which is now classified as type 1 diabetes based on laboratory investigations such as C-peptide measurement or diabetes-specific autoantibodies.
The health technology assessment recommended the establishment of a single managed access programme for all CGM systems for all individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus regardless of age, noting that such a system would need clearly defined criteria for access. Following on from the recommendations in this HTA, the HSE’s medicines management programme, in conjunction with the HSE primary care reimbursement service, and with the support of the HSE chief clinical officer, introduced an online reimbursement application system for all CGM sensors on 1 December 2023. Since the introduction of the reimbursement application system for CGM sensors, 5,439 additional individuals have been approved for reimbursement support for this technology. In December 2025, there were paid claims for CGM sensors for 22,012 individuals on the community drug schemes.
In 2025, 72% of new users of CGM sensors were commencing on a preferred CGM sensor. The HSE has identified preferred CGM products based on cost-effectiveness to manage this expenditure. A second review of CGMs is taking place, which will include an update of the preferred CGM sensors evaluation. To date, a health technology assessment of CGM sensors for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus or other types of diabetes excluded from the HTA referenced above, such as latent autoimmune diabetes in adults, type 3c diabetes, monogenic forms of diabetes and so on has not been undertaken. Therefore, there is limited information to support the extension of reimbursement to this cohort, including cost-effectiveness assessment and budget impact of same.
On 21 May, Diabetes Policy and Services Review: A Strategy for Better Care was launched by the Minister for Health. This is Ireland's first national strategy for diabetes and it sets out recommendations for action in relation to type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, diabetes in pregnancy and paediatric diabetes. The strategy marks a major milestone in diabetes care in Ireland and represents the development of a unified approach to its delivery. The Government is considering all recommendations of the strategy for progression.
The Senator's key ask is for a HTA to be carried out on expanding reimbursement for CGM sensors to those with diabetes other than type 1. That has not been carried out and there is therefore limited information to support extension of the reimbursement to this cohort, including the cost-effectiveness assessment and the budget impact of same. The Senator believes a HTA would inform that and enable a decision to be made. I thank him for highlighting the issue and will revert to the Minister for Health for further consideration.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:15+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-14