Minister for Health attends EPSCO meeting of EU Health Ministers in Warsaw
The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, is today representing Ireland at an informal meeting of EU Health Ministers in Warsaw. The agenda for the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council meeting includes discussions on safeguarding the mental wellbeing of children and young people in a world of modern digital technologies and social media.
This is Minister Carroll MacNeill’s first meeting with her European counterparts. The Minister will be chairing the EPSCO Health Council during the Irish Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2026. Today’s meeting is an opportunity to engage with other health ministers to identify common challenges in the health sector that would benefit from a collective approach.
The Minister will also meet the new European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare, Olivér Várhelyi, and Emer Cooke, head of the European Medicines Agency.
Attendees will also discuss issues such as medicines supply safety and how to ensure that patients throughout the European Union have access to affordable medicines.
Today, Minister MacNeill will also co-sign a letter from the Dutch Minister of Health asking the European Commission to bring law forward on nicotine containing products. The letter is also co-signed by Ministers from Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Slovenia and Spain.