Our priorities
Ireland is one of the top five global medtech hubs, competing with the likes of Massachusetts, Minnesota and California in the USA. Our success is over a century in the making, with the sector now spanning 450 companies, including 9 of the world’s top 10 medtech companies with exports of €16 billion.
Moreover, Ireland is the greatest employer of medtech professionals, per capita, in Europe with more than 48,000 people working in the sector and growth forecast to reach 56,000 by 2028 as the sector continues to grow here.
We have consulted business leaders and experts from the medtech community in Ireland to set out our priorities to ensure that in the face of business, technological, demographic, and political change, Ireland’s global medtech hub remains competitive and innovative.
We believe that with the right supports, and policies in place, Ireland can shape the future of healthcare and take a greater share of the global market.
General elections provide an incomparable occasion for reflection and pivot to ensure that challenges are tackled, and opportunities are seized. That is why Irish Medtech have developed this important publication with its members to set out our priorities in the face of business, technological, demographic, and political change, Ireland’s global medtech hub thrives.
Our recommendations fall under four pillars:
- Prioritise reform of the EU medical device and in vitro diagnostic regulatory system
- Implement the EU European Health Data Space
- Expand Ireland’s clinical research landscape
- Create a national health technology and life sciences strategy
- Embrace new technologies with advanced manufacturing
- Nurture entrepreneurship and support disruptive innovation
- Safeguard the sustainability of the new apprenticeship programmes
- Support lifelong learning for a worldclass knowledge economy
- Establish Ireland as a leader for gender leadership in manufacturing
- Ensure a just transition throughout regulatory changes and reporting requirements
- Foster a patient centric circular economy
- Support sustainable practices and innovations
- Evolve Ireland’s manufacturing and infrastructure support