The Department of Health has approved €263 million in funding to support digital projects in the health service. The HSE Digital for Care Capital Plan 2026 sets out further investment in the HSE Health App, AI and automation initiatives, as well as core ICT infrastructure and cyber resilience.
A total of €27 million is to be invested in the delivery of wireless connectivity across Acute, Community and Corporate services. Initially, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) will be implemented in the Dublin North-East and Mid and Mid-West regions, with aim of implementing enterprise wireless connectivity in 60 per cent of HSE locations.
The Electronic Health Record (EHR) project will receive funding to drive progress in the implementation of the national HER, the Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) HER, the Maternity & Newborn Health Record, and the Community Care Record ‘Community Connect’ programmes.
An EHR readiness assessment is set to be carried out in the first health region, and care pathways and processes will be standardised for all regions across major clinical areas. The Maternity & Newborn Health Record, which is now live in all major maternity hospitals across the country, will be implemented at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Drogheda, Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise, and Portiuncula University Hospital. Phased go-lives of the Community Care Record are planned in the Midwest Southwest health regions by the end of 2026, and a single point of access for all six regions will be established by June 2026. The CHI EHR will be commissioned alongside the commissioning of the new children’s hospital.
Funding of €8 million has been allocated to support three major updates for the Shared Care Record, including access to GP prescriptions. Implementation of the SCR will be completed in Dublin Southeast and in one other region.
Almost €7 million is being invested in the HSE Health App, with quarterly releases of additional functions over the course of 2026.
The Digital for Care Capital Plan also provides €20 million has been approved for the CHI ICT programme, including funding for the ICT infrastructure of the new National Children’s Hospital (NCH) and the implementation of corporate systems throughout Children’s Health Ireland.
The Virtual Care Programme will receive €2.7 million, which will fund the expansion of virtual care to target 100 beds per health region within the next two years, procurement of a national remote health monitoring platform, and the development of virtual care hubs in each region. A Telehealth Centre of Excellence will also be established to provide consistent support for patients at home.
The procurement programme for a national electronic prescribing service and dispensing solution will be completed by end of 2026, and the Radiology Information System (RIS) will be upgraded at five hospitals, with plans to include and integrate images from a wider set of healthcare providers. The National Laboratory System (MedLIS) will be deployed across the rest of the Dublin Northeast region, with preparations for deployment in Dublin Midlands and Dublin Southeast.
In 2026, the HSE will commence deployment of Finance Management System (IFMS) to voluntary healthcare sites, starting with implementation in four of 58 Section 38 and 39 sites, at a cost of more than €17 million, and €5.32 million has been allocated to fund the roll-out of the National Staff Records and Payroll System (NiSRP) in the two remaining statutory sites, one voluntary hospital, and three Section 38 organisations.
An additional €3.6 million is earmarked to support AI and Automation projects, with the aim of releasing 500,000 administrative hours to higher value work. This allocation will also be used to provide a suite of AI learning resources for staff.
The HSE Digital for Care Capital Plan 2026 was published earlier this week (24 February 2026), along with the HSE Capital Plan 2026.
Commenting on the new funding, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “Our investment plans for health care in 2026 will bring real benefits to people across the country. We’re investing €1.327 billion into new buildings and equipment, showing the Government’s ongoing commitment to better healthcare and increased capacity.
“We’re also investing €263 million in digital health reforms in 2026 which will drive implementation and expansion of the National Electronic Health Record and the HSE app.
“By expanding capacity and building the right physical and digital infrastructure, both in hospitals and in communities, we are advancing the Sláintecare vision to provide the right care, in the right place, at the right time.”
