The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, has announced €2 million in dedicated funding for women’s health research, marking the first time Irish research funding has been ringfenced specifically for this purpose. The funding, allocated at up to €1 million per year for 2026 and 2027, will support the Applied Partnership Awards scheme in Women’s Health Research, administered through the Health Research Board (HRB). This initiative aims to address longstanding gaps in knowledge about women’s health and the gender-specific impacts on health outcomes and experiences.
Minister Carroll MacNeill highlighted that research into women’s health has historically been underfunded, resulting in delayed diagnoses and treatments primarily based on male-focused data. She referenced the 2024 report Femtech in Ireland: The Case for Prioritising Women’s Health Research and Innovation, which called for dedicated funding, noting that this new programme directly responds to that recommendation. The funding is intended to support projects that enhance understanding of women’s health and ultimately improve outcomes across all stages of life.
A formal call for proposals will be launched by the HRB in January, with up to ten awards to be granted. While the funding is open to all areas of women’s health, priority themes have been identified based on stakeholder engagement and an evidence and gap map analysis conducted by the HRB. These themes include postpartum mental health with a focus on traumatic births, endometriosis, menstruation, and culturally sensitive healthcare that addresses intersectional impacts on women’s health.
Dr. Gráinne Gorman, Chief Executive of the HRB, emphasized that research gaps identified across 38 OECD countries, including Ireland, highlight the need for targeted investment in women’s health. She noted that co-creation approaches with the public, stakeholders, and knowledge users will make the research more relevant, inclusive, and capable of driving tangible improvements in healthcare.
The historic exclusion of women from medical research has had significant implications for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions in women. To address these disparities, the Department of Health has implemented two Women’s Health Action Plans in 2022 and 2024, both of which include commitments to grow the evidence base for women’s health through strategic research support. The new Applied Partnership Awards represent a structured approach to commissioning research, building on previous projects to inform policy and strengthen healthcare outcomes for women in Ireland.
