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UL collaborates with HSE and Government to shape Ireland’s new Digital Mental Health Strategy UL collaborates with HSE and Government to shape Ireland’s new Digital Mental Health Strategy

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University of Limerick and HSE collaborate to shape Ireland’s new Digital Mental Health Strategy

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UL and HSE collaborate to shape Ireland’s new Digital Mental Health Strategy. Professor Shane Kilcommins, Acting President of UL; Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler TD; Dr Jennifer McMahon, Associate Professor and Head of UL’s Department of Psychology; and Dr Ruth Melia, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at UL, pictured at the launch of the Digital Mental Health Strategy.

University of Limerick (UL) has collaborated with the HSE and Government in shaping Ireland’s new Digital Mental Health Strategy

Members of the PROACT team, including UL's Dr Ruth Melia and Professor Pepijn Van De Ven, pictured with Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler TD.
Members of the PROACT team, including UL’s Dr Ruth Melia and Professor Pepijn Van De Ven, pictured with Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler TD.

UL and HSE have announced a collaboration which will see the two institutions help shape Ireland’s new Digital Mental Health Strategy with the Government.

Dr Ruth Melia, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology at UL, has played a central role and contributed significantly to the new national strategy. The strategy aims to enhance mental services in Ireland through the power of digital technology.

Sharing the Vision Digital Mental Health Strategy 2026-2030 was recently unveiled by the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health. The new plan will empower service users, clinicians and communities to access safe, effective and personalised mental health supports anytime, anywhere.


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The strategy was launched by Minister for Mental Health, Mary Butler TD, at the third annual UL-led Digital Mental Health Conference held in collaboration with the HSE.

Minister Butler said: “This strategy sets out a clear vision: to harness and scale the use of digital technologies to provide safe, effective and accessible mental health information, tools and services. It represents a significant step forward in how we deliver mental health services in Ireland.

“By embracing digital innovation, we can expand accessibility and increase reach so that more people can access the supports they need. This is about building a more connected, responsive and inclusive mental health service.”

Dr Ruth Melia from UL’s Department of Psychology was one of six members of the HSE Digital Mental Health Specialist Group, a team of clinicians, academics and policy makers who shared their expertise to ensure standards of care and best operational procedures were met in the new Digital Mental Health Strategy.

Professor Shane Kilcommins, Acting President of UL, said, “At University of Limerick, we believe that the most urgent national challenges demand collective leadership. Our collaboration with the HSE and Government in shaping Ireland’s new Digital Mental Health Strategy reflects the very best of what can be achieved when universities, public bodies and healthcare professionals work side‑by‑side.

“UL’s research community has long been committed to generating insights that translate into meaningful societal impact. Through innovation, evidence-based practice and deep engagement with the communities we serve, we are proud to lead in the contribution to a shared national vision of accessible, inclusive and high-quality mental health supports.

Dr Ruth Melia said, “The recent advances in digital mental health demonstrate that digital is a key enabler of accessible and equitable mental health service provision.”

“This partnership demonstrates the transformative potential of harnessing academic expertise for the public good, and I am confident that the strategy will help shape a more responsive, equitable and effective mental health system for people across Ireland.”

Speaking at the launch of the Digital Mental Health Strategy, Dr Ruth Melia said, “The recent advances in digital mental health demonstrate that digital is a key enabler of accessible and equitable mental health service provision.

“It has been a privilege to have been able to draw on our programme of research here at UL to inform policy directly and the national Digital Mental Health Strategy is testament to the transformative impact of strong partnership and collaboration across research, policy and practice.

“We at UL look forward to continued collaboration with our HSE and Government colleagues to optimise mental health outcomes for all.”

The recent Digital Mental Health Conference also saw the launch of the PROACT project (Predictive Analytics for Optimised Care in Youth Mental Health), a Health Research Board funded collaboration between UL researchers and Jigsaw, the National Centre for Youth Mental Health.

The research aims to develop data-driven approaches to predict mental health outcomes, anticipate changes in service demand, improve workforce planning and reduce wait times to ensure timely and effective mental health support for young people.

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