I am grateful to the Minister of State for taking this issue on behalf of the Department of Health. It concerns the digitisation of health records. The current situation, which has existed for quite a long time, is not acceptable. We do not have link-ups between GPs and hospitals in terms of health records; we do not even have links between hospitals. If one health venue or health centre has to get the records for a patient from another, it often requires a clinical practitioner - a doctor or nurse - to physically go off and look for them. I was quite surprised that that even applies to parliamentary questions on general health records, such as on the number of heart surgeries conducted in all hospitals in Ireland last year. That should be pretty simple - someone presses a button and the answer comes up. Yet it still is not all digitalised and there are not links right across the system.

The Government is finally moving toward a single electronic health record system. If it is to be patient-focused, any medical professional should, with the patient's permission, be easily able to draw on patient records once they have the patient's name and date of birth. Whether it is a patient's engagement with a GP or their previous medical experience, all that data should be capable of being brought together. I would go further. The possibility should exist for all the clinical data gathered to be used for clinical research purposes. If we consent, the data could be used in an anonymised way and that could inform clinical research. That will represent an enormous opportunity for the health sector in Ireland whereby we can target our resources if, for example, we know men of a particular age are at particular risk. I know the Minister of State has been a strong advocate in the area of prostate cancer. If we know from the clinical data that comes together who we need to target, that will make much more sense.

My concern and the reason I asked for an update is this. When the State's Chief Information Officer came before the Joint Committee on Artificial Intelligence last year, he anticipated the single electronic health record system could be in place by 2030. The latest I am hearing is it will be 2032. I am aware the Minister for Health announced a shortlisting or procurement process was starting in February 2026. This is potentially the most transformational operation in our healthcare system. It will result in the saving of lives because data will be provided to practitioners much more quickly. It will potentially save significant amounts for our health service. One of our challenges, which is why we definitely need to invest more in clinical research, is we know we have an ageing population. We hope we will all be healthier as we age but there are greater challenges ahead.

I worry, and I say that because of many of the major IT projects managed by the State. While the business case is always well-presented, there are often challenges in how it is operationalised. I find it bizarre that, with all our modern technology, we are talking of further delays before this is in place. A patient-centred approach is vital. I would be grateful if the Minister of State could provide an update on where we are with the process.

I am grateful to the Deputy for the opportunity to update the House on the digitalisation of health records and the progress being made to support patients and healthcare professionals through safer, more connected care, stronger research and innovation and a more sustainable health service. I am taking this Topical Issue on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill.

As Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I should highlight the success and the efficiencies of the digitisation of our passport service. Perhaps that is the exemplar of what can be achieved. It continues to go from success to success.

The programme for Government commits to the continued digitisation of Irish healthcare records and information systems, and significant progress is being made. For too long, important health information has been held in separate systems and on paper records, making it more difficult for information to move with the patient across care settings. Our objective is straightforward: information should follow the patient, not organisational boundaries. The Government's approach is set out in Digital for Care: A Digital Health Framework for Ireland 2024-2030. Supported by significant investment in digital health, we are moving from strategy to delivery through a phased programme designed to improve access to information, strengthen care delivery and modernise how health information is managed and shared.

Three national programmes are central to this work. First, the HSE health app is the patient-facing element of Ireland's digital health transformation. Since its launch in February 2025, it has attracted more than 250,000 registered users and provides access to a growing range of services and information, including appointments, referrals, waiting list information, vaccination records and digital health cards. I do not think there is a Member of this House or the Seanad who has not been personally pushed by the Minister to make sure they have it downloaded to their phone.

Second, the national shared care record is now a live national service across all six HSE health regions. It enables authorised healthcare professionals to securely access key patient information from multiple systems through a single shared view, supporting safer and more co-ordinated care.

Third, the national electronic health record programme will provide a comprehensive longitudinal digital record across publicly funded hospitals and community services. Government approved the preliminary business case in February 2026 and procurement is progressing. The programme will be managed through a series of regional deployments on a phased basis to mitigate risks and ensure lessons learned are incorporated throughout the programme, with all health regions live by 2032. As with major infrastructure investments, costs will be refined through a series of related procurements, with associated governance arrangements and approval processes in place to ensure value for money and appropriate oversight.

Alongside these programmes, the national electronic prescribing programme is progressing through procurement. The resulting electronic prescribing and dispensing service will result in safer, better care for patients, especially as they transition between healthcare settings.

The Health Information Bill, which passed into law earlier this year, provides the legal basis for the sharing of health information and the establishment of digital health records. Together with Digital for Care and the upcoming European health data space, EHDS, regulation, it establishes the framework needed to support more connected care and the responsible use of health information for both primary and secondary purposes. The EHDS regulation will create a common framework across Europe to support secure sharing of health information for direct patient-care-specific secondary uses such as research, innovation, public health and policy development and health service management. Importantly, secondary use of health data in this way continues to be protected under GDPR and this is further enhanced by the EHDS regulation.

Ultimately, our ambition is simple: that health information follows the patient wherever they receive care. By connecting people, healthcare professionals and services through trusted digital infrastructure, we can support safer care, better patient experiences, stronger research and a more sustainable health system. Better information supports better decisions, better care and, ultimately, better outcomes for patients. I am genuinely grateful to the Deputy for raising this and for continuing to be a strong advocate on this issue.

I thank the Minister of State. I totally agree with him. The ambition is to follow wherever the patient receives care. We have to ensure that by 2032, whether you are in a GP surgery, a hospital, a community care setting or a nursing home, the medical records are easily accessible. I am concerned that we are talking about six years; it should be done more quickly. The timeframe has continued to be pushed out. In an era of modern technology, we should not be waiting that long, particularly given many countries, including some in the developing world, are far more advanced in the digitisation of records. The process will ultimately pay for itself, both financially and in lives saved. If the Minister of State is giving me the commitment that in 2032, no matter what health setting we are in, that data will be easily accessible, that will be key.

I get that this is very sensitive data. The risk has to be managed. There has to be transparency around the process and it needs to be explained.

I hope the Minister of State will raise this next point further with the Minister. We are talking about what is happening in the European health data space. We know that healthcare costs are continuing to go through the roof, but if we can effectively target resources, it makes much more sense. Let us use that data and marry it with effective clinical research. There is a lot of wonderful clinical research in Ireland. The clinical research centre in UCD, which the Minister of State will be familiar with, has done amazing work. If we can marry all of that data from our healthcare system with clinical research, it will result in huge financial savings, but we can also be world leaders in being able to use that data to tackle disease.

I am broadly happy with the answer, but I will remain concerned if the timelines continue to slip.