The Department of Health has allocated €1.8 million to establish an Evidence Synthesis Hub for Health Security Ireland (ESHSI) strengthening Ireland’s ability to prepare for, respond to and recover from health threats. The Health Research Board (HRB) will manage the funding for the two-year pilot phase.
The Hub will ensure evidence on priority health threats is gathered and analysed rapidly, so decision-makers in policy and practice have the right evidence at the right time. This is especially critical in emergency situations such as pandemics, where decision-makers rely on getting trusted evidence quickly.
The Hub came on foot of the Report of the Emerging Health Threats Function Expert Steering Group, which recommended it as a critical component of Ireland’s health security infrastructure.
Speaking about the Hub Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, said:
“The establishment of the Evidence Synthesis Hub for Health Security is a significant step in strengthening Ireland’s preparedness for future health threats. Effective health security depends on timely access to high-quality evidence, enabling policymakers and health services to make informed decisions in rapidly evolving situations. This Government is committed to investing in the capabilities, partnerships and expertise needed to protect public health. The Hub will play an important role in ensuring that Ireland is better prepared, more resilient, and able to respond effectively to emerging health challenges.”
Dr Teresa Maguire, Director of Research Strategy and Funding at the HRB, said:
“I am particularly excited by this new investment as it builds on over two decades of prior work by the HRB, strengthens and connects Ireland’s key evidence‑synthesis assets into a coordinated national capability, and positions Ireland as a significant global contributor ahead of—and during—future health threats.”
Professor Declan Devane, Scientific Lead and Principal Investigator at the ESHSI and Professor of Health Research Methodology at University of Galway said:
“When a health threat appears, or when the country is planning for one, the people who make decisions about our health need answers quickly. They need to know what the research says, how sure we can be of it and what we still need to find out. The Evidence Synthesis Hub for Health Security finds the best research from around the world, weighs it up and says clearly what it shows. That is what evidence synthesis means. Ireland has many skilled people doing this work in its public agencies, universities and research centres. The Hub wants to bring them together, so that important decisions are based on the best evidence we have.”
ENDS
Notes for editors:
- The Evidence Hub, hosted by Evidence Synthesis Ireland at the University of Galway coordinates the system, supports methods and quality assurance, may carry out some reviews itself, and connects the right expertise to the right question. The spokes, the organisations in the Hub’s network, bring specialist knowledge, review capacity and topic expertise, including public agencies, academic teams, public health specialists, health economists, ethicists, behavioural scientists, clinicians, public and patient contributors, and international partners.
- Evidence Synthesis Ireland (ESI) is an all-Ireland initiative funded by the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Health and Social Care, Research and Development (HSC R&D) Division of the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland. Through its capacity building and related activities, ESI aims to make evidence syntheses more usable in every sense of the word – better designed, conducted and reported, more useable for decision makers and more usable within health care policy and clinical practice decision making across the Island of Ireland and beyond. https://evidencesynthesisireland.ie/
- For queries regarding the Evidence Synthesis Hub for Health Security Ireland email info@evidencesynthesishub.ie
