Departmental Funding
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-07
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Jack Chambers (FF), Dublin West

I do not have a specific update here with me on digital or electronic health records. We have taken the leap as a Government, with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to put significant capital funding aside to digitalise our health system, which is the correct strategic move in the context of Ireland being behind many other countries in the efficient use of health data for personal reasons and for patient records. There is huge duplication across our hospital system with paper records. There is a tender process ongoing around that. The use of research, data-sharing and anonymity is something I will have to revert to the Department of Health. It needs to be scalable and interoperable and avoid duplication and some of the mishaps we have had in other digital health systems. Given the fact that many are much more mature, it provides a real opportunity to really deploy AI in the health system in terms of diagnostics and better advanced therapeutics. It will provide a real opportunity to drive reform in our health system and better enable practitioners and clinicians to provide the best care.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-07