HSE Research Ethics Committee

An HSE Research Ethics Committee (REC) is one of the independent ethics review bodies operating within Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) and HSE-funded hospitals to provide ethical approval for health research conducted in the Irish public health system. HSE/Hospital RECs review studies that recruit participants through publicly funded health services, use personal healthcare data or biological samples from service users, involve health and social care staff as participants or researchers, or are hosted within publicly funded healthcare infrastructure. They are distinct from Ireland's National Office for Research Ethics Committees (NREC), a separate statutory body under the Department of Health that provides single national ethical approval only for regulated clinical trials of investigational medicinal products, regulated medical device investigations, and regulated performance studies of in-vitro diagnostic devices. Research falling outside NREC's narrower statutory scope -- including most observational, data-driven, and non-regulated clinical research -- is reviewed by an HSE or Hospital REC instead. The HSE is currently reforming this system, moving from a fragmented set of local committees toward six regional HSE Reference RECs aligned with Sláintecare Regional Health Areas, each operating to a Standard Code of Governance and Management and supported by the HSE Research Ethics Committees Support and Coordination Office, which reports to the National Committee for the Governance, Management and Support of Research.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 23 Jul 2026

Worked examples

Is an instance

A hospital-based observational study recruiting HSE service users to evaluate a new care pathway is reviewed and approved by the relevant HSE or Hospital REC before recruitment begins, since it uses publicly funded health infrastructure and personal health data but is not a regulated clinical trial of a medicinal product.

Is an instance

A researcher planning to interview HSE-employed public health nurses about workplace practices submits the protocol to the HSE REC covering that service area, since the study involves health and social care staff as research participants.

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance

A phase III randomised controlled trial of an investigational medicinal product does not go to an HSE REC for its core ethical approval -- it falls under the National Office for Research Ethics Committees (NREC), which holds sole statutory authority for regulated clinical trials of medicinal products, regulated medical device investigations, and regulated in-vitro diagnostic performance studies in Ireland.

An HSE Research Ethics Committee (REC) is one of the ethics review bodies operating within Ireland’s Health Service Executive and HSE-funded hospitals that provides ethical approval for health research carried out in the Irish public health system. HSE and Hospital RECs exist to protect the safety, welfare, and rights of research participants, carrying out independent ethical assessment before a study begins and ongoing oversight afterward, including review of protocol amendments and safety concerns.

What falls under HSE REC review

HSE/Hospital RECs review research that:

Recruits participants through publicly funded health services
Uses personal healthcare data or biological samples from service users
Involves health and social care staff as participants or researchers
Is hosted within publicly funded healthcare infrastructure

Consent processes reviewed by HSE RECs must align with the HSE National Policy for Consent in Health and Social Care.

How this differs from Ireland’s NREC

Ireland also has a National Office for Research Ethics Committees (NREC), a statutory body under the Department of Health. NREC’s remit is narrower but exclusive: it is the sole route to ethical approval for regulated clinical trials of investigational medicinal products, regulated medical device investigations, and regulated performance studies of in-vitro diagnostic medical devices. Research outside that specific statutory scope — including most observational studies, data-driven research, and non-regulated clinical research within the public health system — is reviewed by an HSE or Hospital REC rather than NREC. Distinguishing which body has jurisdiction over a given protocol is one of the first governance questions an Irish health researcher has to resolve, since submitting to the wrong committee delays approval.

Reform toward regional Reference RECs

The HSE has been reforming its REC system to move away from a fragmented set of local, hospital-based committees of varying capacity toward six regional HSE Reference RECs, aligned with the Sláintecare Regional Health Areas, so that all HSE services and HSE-funded Section 38 and Section 39 organisations have reliable access to a REC. Reference RECs operate to a Standard Code of Governance and Management Required for HSE Reference Research Ethics Committees, and report to the National Committee for the Governance, Management and Support of Research. Day-to-day support, training, and coordination is provided by the HSE Research Ethics Committees Support and Coordination Office.

Why the distinction matters internationally

HSE RECs sit within Ireland’s own national health-research governance system and should not be conflated with comparable bodies in other jurisdictions that use similar terminology: UK NHS/HRA Research Ethics Committees operate under the UK’s separate Health Research Authority framework, and Australian Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) operate under the NHMRC’s National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research. The governing legislation, national policy documents, and committee accreditation routes differ across all three systems, even where the underlying ethical review function — protecting research participants — is similar.

Related terms

REC (Research Ethics Committee) — the general concept, applicable across jurisdictions
NHMRC HREC Registration — the equivalent Australian ethics-review framework

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

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Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

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