Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 November 2023
77. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Health the progress of the ongoing implementation of Action 1.5 in the Health Climate Change Sectoral Adaptation Plan 2019-2024 to ensure effective health service planning for climate resilience; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49032/23]
View answerThe Climate Change Health Sectoral Adaptation Plan 2019-2024 sets out the main climate risks and vulnerabilities the health sector is expected to face, provides a framework for action and governance in this regard, and proposes a range of actions aimed at reducing the vulnerability of the sector to the impacts of climate change.
Action 1.5 identifies the need to plan for resilience, particularly in the context of healthcare demand arising from a range of impacts including, in particular, vector-borne diseases.
Since the publication of the Sectoral Adaptation Plan, my Department and the HSE have developed a programme of work both in the context of the whole-of-Government Climate Action Plan process and of the HSE Climate Action Strategy, to take forward the climate adaptation commitments identified in 2019. This includes a structured approach to addressing public health concerns in collaboration with the National Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC).
A targeted body of work, informed by the expertise both within the HPSC and of public health and environmental health experts, is exploring the current and anticipated impacts of climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement, on population health to better inform our understanding of the resilience of our healthcare system to the current and locked-in impacts of climate change.
