Le: An tAire Sláinte; Stephen Donnelly
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Thank you, Priscilla. I am very glad to participate today for the government in this important and timely Shared Island Dialogue on ‘Working together for a healthier island’.
This event is part of the government’s Shared Island initiative, which was launched by the Taoiseach last October, and through which we are aiming to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation, connection and understanding on the island, through the framework of the Good Friday Agreement.
There are over 120 stakeholders in the Health sector participating today, from across Ireland and Northern Ireland.
You are all people who are involved in and committed to delivering, developing and supporting health and well-being for communities across this island.
Many of you are working in health service areas where we already cooperate together across the border, or where we have the potential to do so in the future, in pursuit of a healthier island.
As we now, steadily and carefully, emerge from the biggest public health challenge in living memory, this is an important moment to look at how we work together on health.
No one on this island has been untouched by the difficult, and often harrowing, experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
I think of those no longer with us because of the pandemic and their families, and of our health and social care workers, who selflessly continued their work in such challenging circumstances.
The task of recovery extends right across society and will require a sustained focus, solidarity, and a willingness to do things differently than before.
And just as the inspiring and heroic performance of those in our health services was at the very core of the response to the pandemic, so our health sectors are also central to how we recover in society and ‘build back better’.
Today’s Dialogue is an important and timely opportunity to share experience and suggestions on what works, what more we can do together and where we can learn from each other in government, in research, and in society - to better protect and promote the health of the island in the years ahead.
We already have a strong track record of excellent cooperation in the Health sector, which gives us a platform on which to build.
Cooperation on the island in health predates the Good Friday Agreement and has existed formally since the signing of the Ballyconnell Agreement by four health boards in the border region in 1992.
The Government and Executive, and our respective health services, have registered significant achievements over the last three decades through the North South Ministerial Council and through the work of North South Bodies, initiatives and platforms, like the Food Safety Promotion Board and Cooperation and Working Together.
We have developed and now deliver vital and effective cross-border health services in areas ranging from cancer care and research, to emergency pulmonary interventions; paediatric cardiac treatment; palliative care; accident and emergency planning; and, health promotion.
One of the themes we want to explore today is the different forms effective cooperation can take, via the North South Ministerial Council and more broadly. From partnerships between the Health Service Executive and Northern Ireland Health Trusts, to individual organisations bringing an all-island focus to specialist areas, there are many different ways to strengthen our health cooperation on the island.
In 2018, we agreed the transfer of elective paediatric cardiac surgical cases from Northern Ireland to Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin in Dublin. All emergency and urgent paediatric cardiac surgery for children and young people on the island now takes place in CHI at Crumlin - as close as possible to home for children and their families, North and South
Similarly, the North West Cancer Centre at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry is funded on a cross-border basis, and commenced services in 2016, providing access to radiotherapy services for people across the North West region.
Shortly, we will see a video of patients explaining the difference that cross border care at Crumlin and Altnagelvin Hospitals has meant for them.
And we will hear from the National Ambulance Service on how cooperation between ambulance services enhances patient care in border regions.
These are just some examples of the hugely positive impact of all-island cooperation on healthcare, for people, North and South.
There are other initiatives also worth mentioning, which show what we can achieve, when there’s a need, a willingness and a focus on practical solutions:
The Human Donor Breast Milk Bank collects, processes and stores milk from mothers across the island who have excess milk to donate. This essential milk is used for premature and vulnerable babies in neonatal units in Ireland and Northern Ireland. This is a wonderful expression of solidarity, cooperation and care on an all-island basis.
In March this year, I was delighted to sign a renewed Memorandum of Understanding on the Ireland-Northern Ireland-National Cancer Institute Cancer Consortium along with my colleague Minister for Health in Northern Ireland Robin Swann and Dr Norman Sharpless from the National Cancer Institute of the US.
The Consortium aims to reduce cancer incidence and mortality on the island of Ireland through cross-border and transatlantic collaborations in cancer research and education. Increased access to clinical trials on the island of Ireland is one of the clear benefits to cancer patients.
Individual researchers and healthcare professionals have helped to sustain and renew the Cancer Consortium.
Other organisations and networks helping to deepen links North and South include the Institute of Public Health, the All-Ireland Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care and the All-Island Congenital Heart Disease Network – and we will hear their valuable perspective and experience in today’s Dialogue.
In overall terms, our cooperation in support of health and well-being on the island is significant, not only for the important benefits it brings for our people – saving lives and enhancing life. But also for the shared endeavour and achievement this represents, which resonates in such positive ways in our community, professional and political relationships on this island.
The government’s Shared Island initiative is about taking up the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement to enhance our lived experience on the island of Ireland and our understanding across communities and political traditions.
Working together for a healthier island is one of the most important and powerful ways in which we can continue to do that.
As part of the Shared Island initiative, the government has established a Shared Island Fund with €500 million in capital funding ring-fenced for North/South projects over the next five years, which we will invest in co-funding North/South partnerships to build a more sustainable, connected, prosperous and healthier island.
To support consideration of how we can deepen mutually beneficial cooperation on the island, the Shared Island unit in the Taoiseach’s Department is commissioning a comprehensive programme of published research.
This includes work to be published later this year by the National Economic and Social Council on the approach to mental health services on the island; and, research by the ESRI examining the primary health care systems of Ireland and Northern Ireland and drawing out implications for policy.
Importantly also, the Health Research Board has recently updated its policy to make it possible for applicants from research organisations in Northern Ireland to apply as the lead applicant for HRB funding. This will facilitate greater participation and collaboration by health researchers on the island of Ireland, better reflecting the commonality of the people, systems and issues they are examining.
Finally, I want to acknowledge and welcome Professor Deirdre Heenan’s scoping research on cross-border health in Ireland, which was undertaken and published specifically for today’s Dialogue and for the Shared Island research programme.
This study, which is based on the views of more than 40 practitioners across a range of areas, provides a valuable basis for discussion and examination of further cross-border cooperation opportunities. I look forward to hearing more from Professor Heenan on her research in this morning’s second session.
We have a series of three panel discussions today, with contributions from panellists drawing on their significant experience in our health sectors, North and South, and hearing from many others in the Dialogue.
Our interactive panel discussions are looking at key areas for a healthier island:
I’ll be listening carefully to what people are saying today, and I look forward to an opportunity to join the conversation again a little later on.
Thank you.