The Department of Health is currently participating in Towards a European Health Data Space (TEHDAS), an initiative of the European Commission, to develop and promote concepts for the secondary use of health data to benefit public health and health research and innovation in Europe. Ireland is participating alongside 25 other European countries.
We are interested in the policy direction this takes at European level. To that end, the Department of Health and the Health Research Board are engaged in a number of TEHDAS work packages and policy forums, where we can learn from other countries’ experiences in developing health information infrastructure. In turn, Ireland’s experiences in this area provide valuable input into the work of TEHDAS. Furthermore, Ireland’s health information system will undergo an expert assessment by the TEHDAS project in May 2022.