Health priorities for 2025

Since the new government came to office in January 2025, the Department of Health has published the Waiting List Action Plan and announced further measures on digitalisation and the potential for enhanced cross-border cooperation.

The Waiting List Action Plan (WLAP) 2025 aims to reduce waiting times and improve scheduled care. Backed by €420 million in funding, WLAP aims to drive measurable improvements across outpatient, inpatient/day case, and gastrointestinal (GI) scope services, focusing not just on numbers waiting, but also on how long patients wait for care.

The plan outlines four major national targets:

• 50 per cent of patients to be seen within Sláintecare targets (10 weeks for OPD and 12 weeks for IPDC and GI procedures) by year-end;
• reduce the weighted average waiting time to 5.5 months, down from 6.5 months in 2024;
• ensure 90 per cent of outpatient patients are seen within 12 months; and
• reduce by 90 per cent the number of patients waiting over 24 months, or those at risk of reaching that milestone.

In 2024, over 1.81 million patients were removed from waiting lists, a 4.3 per cent improvement on the previous year. However, demand remains high, with nearly 1.95 million additions expected in 2025. The WLAP responds with a twin-track approach: building capacity and reforming patient pathways.

Investments include the expansion of Surgical Hubs in south and north Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, and the northwest, as well as bolstering endoscopy capacity and modernised care pathways for gynaecology, orthopaedics, obesity, and paediatric care. Meanwhile, validation efforts, triage reforms, and commissioning through the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) will target long-waiting patients with precision.

Digital enablers such as Integrated Patient Management Systems, telemedicine, and data visualisation dashboards will support this transformation, offering clinicians and planners real-time insights and operational clarity.

HSE Health App

A major component of Ireland’s digital health ambitions was realised in February with the launch of the HSE Health App by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD. The app is designed as a ‘digital front door’ to healthcare, initially targeting expectant mothers and expanding gradually to broader patient cohorts throughout 2025.

Early features include:

• access to flu and Covid-19 vaccination records;
• digital storage for health scheme cards (EHIC, LTI, DPS, etc.);
• self-declared and prescribed medication lists;
• view maternity appointments; and
• trusted information through HSE Live.

Built with high standards of security and GDPR compliance, the app requires MyGovID verification for access to personal health data. Future functionality will include public hospital appointments, screening referrals, chronic disease management tools, and the ability to nominate trusted carers to support care coordination.

The app has been piloted at Cork University Maternity Hospital, where patients and clinicians have praised its accessibility and usefulness. The app’s development was informed by direct user testing and engagement with disabled people’s organisations to ensure inclusivity and adherence to European accessibility standards.

As Ireland progresses toward an integrated Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, the HSE Health App stands as a key interface between patients and services, enabling greater autonomy, transparency, and convenience in managing care.

Health in Ireland: Key Trends 2024

The recently published Health in Ireland: Key Trends 2024 report paints a largely optimistic picture of national health outcomes, though it also underscores the pressures of a growing and ageing population.

The report finds:

• 79.5 per cent of Irish people rated their health as “good” or “very good” in 2023, the highest in the EU;
• life expectancy is 82.6 years, placing Ireland fifth among EU member states;
• since 2015, the population has grown by 14.8 per cent, while the over-65 population has increased by 36.5 per cent;
• significant reductions in mortality rates were recorded between 2014 and 2023:
  • cancer deaths down 14.7 per cent;
  • circulatory diseases down 19.5 per cent;
  • ischaemic heart disease down 27.7 per cent; and
  • respiratory diseases down 15.4 per cent;
• 61.3 per cent increase in hospital doctors and a 34.9 per cent rise in nurses and midwives since 2015; and
• funding accounts for 77.4 per cent of all health expenditure.

Minister Carroll MacNeill describes these results as “among the best in Europe” but has also reiterated the need to anticipate future demand: “With our average life expectancy now at 82.6 years… We need to continue to focus on the future demands for healthcare.”

Cross-border health cooperation

The North’s Health Minister Mike Nesbitt MLA met with Minister Carroll MacNeill in Dublin in February 2025 to discuss enhanced cross-border collaboration. Their dialogue focused on potential partnerships in paediatric pathology, cancer treatment, health inequalities, and workforce planning.

“I was delighted to meet with Minister Nesbitt for the first time today to discuss enhancing North-South cooperation on health and social care. Our health services already work together for the benefit of people across the island, including the North West Cancer Centre, the All-Island Cancer Consortium, the Congenital Heart Disease Network and our national ambulance services,” the Minister said.

“I am committed to deepening and expanding the existing cooperation on health we have and I look forward to engaging in further discussions with Minister Nesbitt, both directly and through our joint collaboration in the North South Ministerial Council.”