ILFA Releases 2026 Pre-Budget Submission

ILFA is Ireland’s representative body for lung fibrosis patients. For more than 20 years we have advocated on behalf of patients and the wider lung fibrosis community. We promote change, we challenge current practice, we speak up on behalf of our community, and we collaborate with other patient organisations, alliances, and networks.  Our ultimate goal is equitable healthcare.

Today, lung fibrosis patients are forced to fight a battle on two fronts – against the progression of their disease, and against an inequitable healthcare system that denies them access to the care they need. It doesn’t have to be this way. Providing lung fibrosis patients equitable care would give them a chance to live a longer and healthier life.

The 2025 budget, with its historic € 500,000 funding allocation for lung fibrosis, presented a unique opportunity to support our community. That funding will hopefully be actioned soon, and we have been in discussions with the Department of Health regarding the services our patients urgently need. It’s now critical that the foundational funding in Budget 2025 be expanded in Budget 2026.

ILFA is asking for:

1. € 371,000 to the HSE (and associated headcount) for ongoing staffing and management of the Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) patient registry established from 2025 funding.
2. € 125,000 in funding to ILFA to provide a nurse line and expand the patient grant programme (established from 2025 funding in an SLA agreement with the HSE).
3. € 6M to the HSE (and associated headcount) to expand community pulmonary rehabilitation access for ILD patients.
4. € 3M To establish a tax rebate programme to ensure patients depending on oxygen are not forced to ration their supplies because of increased electricity costs.

The items detailed above (totaling just over €5 million) will provide stopgap funding while the Clinical Advisory Lead continues his investigation into equitable care. This funding expansion would certainly be a cost, but we believe the annual return will be approximately twice the cost of investment (in avoided hospital care from acute exacerbations).

Read our full pre-budget submission for a better understanding of the issues we advocate for and the funding required to achieve the outcomes we seek. Pre Budget Submission 2026-Final