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Annual Report 2025-2026

Annual Report 2025-2026/Our Work/Advocacy and Policy/Advocacy and Policy

A Trusted, Authoritative Voice

 

The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland has developed strong and trusted relationships with a range of stakeholders to inform legislation, policies and health initiatives. RCPI regularly contributes to health policy and legislation through expert input, public consultations, and media engagement. Our experts inform the work of policymakers at critical phases as legislation is progressing through the Irish Dáil and Senate, and engages with the public through media to inform public discourse.

Over 20 National Clinical Programmes
4 National position papers / statements
4 Public consultation submissions to Government strategies and frameworks
Over 100 Media mentions quoting RCPI position papers / statements, resulting combined reach of over 22 million
 

National Clinical Programmes

The National Clinical Programmes are a collaboration between the HSE, RCPI and the other postgraduate medical training colleges. Multi-disciplinary healthcare teams design and develop models of clinical care, patient care pathways and clinical guidelines to inform the planning and delivery of services across the health system. RCPI supports clinical leadership across over 20 of these programmes through nomination of clinical programme leadership and the establishment of multi-specialty RCPI clinical advisory groups (CAGs). CAGs provide a formal structure to support the Clinical Programs through peer review, specialty engagement and by championing program initiatives.

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A unified voice for health

The clinical advisory groups and our faculties and institutes provide a formal structure to advance healthcare issues from the frontline, empowered by the collective voice of the College. The College is  also a member of several alliances that align with our values and priorities, including the Alcohol Health Alliance, Health Promotion Alliance, Tobacco 21 Alliance, and Climate and Health Alliance. In May 2026, the College also joined the Coalition Against Sunbeds, advocating for a ban on commercial sunbeds. Details of lobbying activities undertaken by RCPI are available at www.lobbying.ie

Explore Current Initiatives
Tobacco Free Future Position Paper front cover
 

Public engagement

Our Public Engagement Strategy positions the clinician voice as a trusted and authoritative source at the centre of public health discourse and healthcare policy. During the 2025-2026 year, the College achieved greater visibility in top tier media outlets across key health issues. This included interviews on Morning Ireland and RTE Six One News, as well as multiple interviews, features and references in national print titles and broadcast media.  The Tobacco Free Future campaign elevated voices from the front line, through a dedicated video campaign and landing page, demonstrating the scale of damage caused by tobacco products. The videos, widely shared on social media, resulted in 13,309 impressions on LinkedIn alone. Our position papers on tobacco products and e-scooters, and statements regarding endometriosis and autopsy provision in Ireland were quoted in the media over 100 times, with an estimated combined reach of 22 million. The College engaged widely with Government departments and sector stakeholders on these issues.

 

Key Advocacy Issues 2025-2026

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Highlights