Niamh Smyth
Question:261. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health if funding will be allocated for research (details supplied); the status of the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10272/19]
View answerTuesday, 5 March 2019
Questions (261)
Written answers
The Health Research Board (HRB) is a statutory body under the aegis of the Department of Health and is the lead agency in Ireland supporting and funding health research. My Department provides funding in the region of €40 million annually to the HRB.
Decisions on funding allocation for specific applications made to the HRB are reached through a rigorous international peer review process. Only those applications that are deemed of high scientific quality through that independent process receive funding.
As Minister for Health it would be inappropriate for me or indeed the HRB to interfere in the decision making process and allocation of funding for research project applications.
The Deputy may wish to note that the HRB does not ring-fence funding for specific diseases or health areas, and welcomes applications in any area, including rare diseases, through all of their funding schemes.
In addition, the HRB supports research in rare diseases via their Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG) Co-fund scheme. Again, only projects that are deemed scientifically robust and of high quality by an independent international peer review panel are funded through this scheme.