Ireland Has the Procurement Approval, the Legislation and the Timetable to Close Its EHR Gap

The arrival of EU digital health obligations has clarified what Ireland needs to do next. A research note from the Oireachtas Library and Research Service, cited by Euractiv in May 2026, confirms that only five of Ireland’s 47 public hospitals have implemented electronic health records. The European Health Data Space Regulation, in force since March 2025, gives Ireland a structured timetable and framework to act. Decisions over the next 18 months will shape the country’s health information infrastructure.

The foundations for acceleration are in place. On 6 February 2026, the Government approved HSE procurement of a National Electronic Health Record, the largest digital transformation project in Irish health service history. The HSE Health App has recorded more than 200,000 downloads and 900,000 patients accessing appointment information. The National Shared Care Record is scaling, with its April 2026 release connecting patient data across services. The three delivery priorities are interoperability, legislation and funding.

The interoperability challenge is the most consequential and the most solvable. Electronic data exists across pharmacies, laboratories and primary care, but systems cannot exchange it, as the Oireachtas research note confirms. The Health Information Bill 2024 establishes a statutory duty to share information between providers treating the same patient. The National Integrated Medical Imaging System, live across 74 sites, demonstrates that interoperable digital infrastructure is achievable in Ireland.

The EHDS framework is an enabler as much as an obligation. The regulation sets a timetable: digital health authorities by March 2027, cross-border patient summaries and ePrescriptions by March 2029, and laboratory and imaging data by March 2031. Kennedys Law noted in March 2026 that providers are in a transition period during which governance and technical architecture must be built. Ireland’s sequenced approach — app, shared care record, full EHR — is consistent with this phased architecture.

The commercial opportunity for health technology organisations is substantial. The EHDS secondary use framework will, from March 2029, permit access to pseudonymised health data for research and innovation through a national Health Data Access Body. Ireland’s health technology sector raised €491.3 million across 89 deals in 2024. The EU Digital Decade 2024 eHealth Indicator Study benchmarks Ireland against EU peers, providing a baseline for tracking progress toward the 2030 citizen access target.

Three actions would accelerate the transition. First, the Health Information Bill must be prioritised through the Oireachtas, providing the legal foundation for every EHR and interoperability measure. Second, the Government should confirm a funding envelope for the National EHR programme alongside the business case now in preparation. Third, private hospital groups and primary care networks should audit their digital infrastructure against the Bill’s duty-to-share requirements before EHR procurement specifications are finalised.

Ireland’s digital health gap is closeable within the EHDS timetable if legislation, funding and procurement move in step. Countries that have digitised health records, including Estonia and Denmark, have done so through sustained commitment to interoperability infrastructure. Ireland has the legislative intent, procurement approval and app infrastructure to make comparable progress. The EHDS Regulation rewards the countries that build fastest.

(The views expressed by the writer are his/her own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of BusinessRiver.)