To ask the Minister of Health whether he has had any engagement with his counterpart in Ireland regarding a second provider arrangement for CAR-T-cell therapy.

In line with the Memorandum of Understanding between Ireland, Northern Ireland and the National Cancer Institute in USA, Departmental officials continue to work collaboratively with Republic of Ireland (RoI) officials and clinical officials, establishing partnerships and working to improve cancer services on an all-island basis.

RoI officials have indicated that their CAR T-cell therapy service is currently operating at capacity and cannot support additional patients accessing these services from Northern Ireland on a cross-border basis at this time.

To develop additional capacity would require significant capital investment and therefore take longer to implement than the proposed timeline to develop a Northern Ireland CAR T-cell therapy service.

The current position where patients travel to Great Britain for CAR T-cell therapy remains the only viable option for adults from Northern Ireland requiring this treatment at this time.

My Departmental officials will continue to work closely with RoI cancer policy and clinical leads on the development of opportunities for cross-border services for new and emerging therapies and service demand consistent with the commitments of the MOU