The Irish Government will commit almost half a billion euros of investment to eHealth when it publishes its National Development Plan for health. Investment will be focused on systems that improve patient care in hospital or community settings, with a particular focus on supporting community-based health professionals
As part of the National Development Plan (NDP) the Irish Government plans to invest €490m in eHealth over the next six years, at a level of €70m a year. After a lengthy planning and tendering process, the new investment programme will be formally announced when Ireland unveils its Health Information and Communication Technology sub-programme in the NDP for 2007-2013.
The six-year investment plan is intended to provide the funding to deliver Ireland’s National Health Information Strategy, first published in 2004. The NDP is expected to lay out detailed updated plans for implementing the 2004 eHealth strategy.
A Department of Health and Children spokesperson said: “The commitment in the NDP is to an investment of Euros 70m per annum, amounting to €490m over the life of the programme, in the area of health information and communication technology in the health services.”
