Engagement with the consultant innovation fund (CIF) has grown over the last two years, with 2026 expected to see a further increase, this newspaper understands.
The CIF was formally launched for applications in early 2024. In its first operational year, 463 consultants engaged with the fund through individual or pooled applications, according to figures provided to the
Medical Independent (MI).
“Engagement continued to grow in 2025,” a HSE spokesperson told MI.
The CIF was established under the public-only consultant contract to “empower” consultants to lead innovation and research projects that directly enhance patient care, service delivery, clinical pathways, and outcomes.
According to HSE figures, in 2024, €4.7 million in project funding was approved. This increased to €6.18 million in 2025, a 31 per cent increase aligned with the growth in applications and the wider distribution of funding across consultant groups.
The number of consultants engaged with the CIF rose significantly in 2025, with 769 involved, representing a 66 per cent increase in participation year-on-year.
Based on the trajectory of the first two years, with increasing consultant awareness, strengthened governance processes, and expanded pre-submission supports, further increases in engagement are anticipated in 2026.
Engagement has broadened both geographically and across specialities. While Dublin hospitals continue to account for the largest proportion of applications, “participation grew markedly” in Cork, Galway, and Sligo.
“Growth across anaesthesiology, pathology and laboratory medicine, and paediatrics and neonatology reflect specialities with strong innovation momentum,” according to the spokesperson.
“The CIF is unlike any other innovation fund internationally, giving consultants a direct pathway to develop and implement ideas that transform patient care,”
Dr Clíodhna McHugh (PhD), Innovation Specialist, Lead on the CIF, told MI. “The projects we are seeing across Ireland show the extraordinary creativity and leadership of consultants in every specialty.”
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