Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 July 2023
710. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he will ringfence dedicated funding for sustained, regular investment in clinical trials, research, and infrastructure to offer cancer patients the best chance of survival; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33648/23]
View answerIn recent years, my Department has made significant progress in improving clinical trial infrastructure. In an effort to improve transparency, streamline approval mechanisms, and provide a robust framework for ethical approval process for clinical trials, my Department established the National Office for National Research Ethics Committees (NREC). This office, which plays a critical role in providing expertise and guidance on research ethics, hosts three NRECs in key clinical trial areas of medical products, medical devices, and in vitro diagnostics. In line with Sláintecare, the Department has also invested in the expansion of an HSE research infrastructure across the Health Regions to promote an equitable national research service within the public health sector.
The Health Research Board (HRB), as the leading funder of health research in Ireland, has been driving the growth of clinical trials in Ireland and putting in place the supporting research infrastructure with the overall aim of facilitating clinical trials that can benefit patients, the healthcare system, and the economy. In 2021, the HRB Board approved a multi-year €21.6m investment in cancer trials in Ireland, comprising support for a National Cancer Clinical Trials Network and funding for six cancer trials groups. Additionally, the HRB manages the only dedicated funding stream (i.e., Definitive Interventions and Feasibility Awards, DIFA) for clinical trials and interventions in Ireland, which supports studies evaluating a full scale, definitive trial of an intervention to provide high quality evidence on the efficacy, effectiveness, cost, and broad impact of the intervention. To date the HRB has made a total investment of €32m across 45 studies. In 2022, the HRB opened a specific cancer stream with €3m available for cancer clinical trials and interventions in the DIFA scheme.
The majority of HRB funding schemes are open to cancer related research offering continuous funding opportunities for cancer research. A 2018 report published by the HRB, which examined funding awards across seven national funders, recognised for cancer related research:
• between 2011 and 2015 seven national funding agencies including the HRB reported investment of €89,719,795 in 354 awards in cancer-related research, which was the second-largest portion of overall national investment
• Cancer-related research accounts for 20.2% of all HRB funding commitments
• HRB was the primary national funder for cancer-related research (54% of total cancer-related research), with Science Foundation Ireland also being an important funder in this area (35%)
Ireland has entered into a number of key European partnerships and activities to help expand its clinical trial capacity. In 2018, the Government approved Ireland’s membership of the ECRIN-ERIC network (European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network - a European Research Infrastructure Consortium) to increase access for Irish patients to multi-national clinical trials. Recently, the Department has also entered into the Horizon Europe Cancer Mission and is progressing entry into the Horizon Europe Partnership on Personalized Medicine. Participation in each of these initiatives will support the expansion of resources required to improve Irish cancer research capacity.
Funding for current expenditure, including cancer research, is allocated on an annual (single-year) basis through the Estimates process with future levels of funding considered as part of the national estimates and budgetary process. Decisions on the funding of research are being made in the context of the Estimates process for 2024.
