National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC)

The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) is Ireland’s National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group (NITAG). NIAC provides independent evidence-based recommendations and advice to the Minister for Health on immunisation and related health matters to inform health policy in Ireland.

Since March 2025, NIAC has been hosted by HIQA. The NIAC Secretariat team, sited within the HTA Directorate provides clinical, evidence synthesis, and administrative support to NIAC.

Information on NIAC’s governance, responsibilities and operations can be found in its Terms of Reference and Standard Operating Procedures.

NIAC Members and Roles

NIAC membership is voluntary, and includes people with broad expertise in areas including but not limited to, immunisation, public health, infectious diseases, and ethics. There are two lay members.

Chair	Dr Edina Moylett, Consultant Paediatrician
Deputy Chair	Dr Kevin Kelleher, Honorary Treasurer, RCPI Faculty of Public Health Medicine
Voting members Nominating Organisation	Nominee
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI)	Dr Bridget Freyne, Consultant in Infectious Diseases
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI)	Professor Brian Cleary, Associate Professor, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, RCSI Alternate: Dr Michelle Flood, Associate Professor and MPharm Deputy Director, RCSI
Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP)	Dr Patrick Kelly, General Practitioner Alternate: Dr Scott Walkin, General Practitioner
Faculty of Occupational Medicine, RCPI	Dr Sujil Jacob, Specialist Occupational Health Physician
Faculty of Paediatrics, RCPI	Dr Juliette Lucey, Consultant Paediatrician
Faculty of Pathology, RCPI	Dr Patrick Stapleton, Consultant Microbiologist
Faculty of Public Health Medicine, RCPI	Dr Mary Ward, Director of Public Health
Institute of Medicine, RCPI	Nomination pending
Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, RCPI	Dr Cliona Murphy, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist
Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC)	Dr Lisa Domegan, Principal Epidemiologist Alternate: Dr Michael Carton, Principal Epidemiologist
Infectious Diseases Society of Ireland (IDSI)	Dr Ruth O'Riordan, Consultant in Infectious Diseases Alternate: Dr Cathal O’Broin, Consultant in Infectious Diseases and General Internal Medicine
Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland	Dr Karn Cliffe, Director of Nursing & Midwifery - Research, Practice Standards, Quality
Travel Medicine Society of Ireland	Dr Astrid Weidenhammer, Travel Health Clinic
National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL)	Dr Cillian De Gascun, Director NVRL Alternate: Dr Daniel Hare, Deputy Director NVRL
Ethics	Professor Barry Lyons, Consultant Anaesthetist and Lecturer in Medical Ethics
Gerontology	Dr Aoife Fallon, Consultant in Geriatric and General Internal Medicine
Lay Member	Professor Alan Baird, Full Professor of Veterinary Physiology and Biology, UCD Nomination pending
Non-voting members	Nominee, Nominating Organisation
Medical Secretary	Dr Áine Varley
Observers	Prof Ellen Crushell, Department of Health Dr Áine McNamara, Health Services Executive Dr Niamh Ennis, Medical Officer, Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) Alternates: Dr Ronan Donelan and Dr Finnuala Lonsdale (HPRA) Dr Lucy Jessop, Director of Public Health, National Immunisation Office Alternate: Dr Chantal Migone, Specialist in Public Health Medicine, National Immunisation Office
Trainee Review Group	Dr Aileen Conway (Infectious diseases) Dr Deirdre Foley (Paediatrics) Dr Irene Gorman (Public Health) Dr Oisin Hennigan (Paediatrics) Dr Fiona McGuire (Public Health) Dr Karen McCarthy (Paediatrics) Dr Michael Hanrahan (Public Health Medicine) Dr Ellen Walsh (Infectious diseases) Dr Laura Mannion (Paediatrics)

NIAC Secretariat:

Clinical Lead:	Dr Sarah Geoghegan
Special Advisor:	Dr Fiona Cullinane
Special Advisor:	Dr Helena Murray
Technical Researcher:	Dr Bryony Treston
Technical Researcher:	Dr Gillian Walsh
Programme Manager:	Dr Melissa Jones
Programme Coordinator:	Ms Trish Clarke

Declared conflicts of interest are available here.

NIAC Working Groups:
Where a specific topic requires additional expertise and or focused attention beyond the usual scope of Committee meetings, a Working Group may be established by the NIAC Chair. Working Groups are responsible for collection, analysis, and preparation of information for presentation to the Committee to support informed deliberations and decision making, as determined by the NIAC Chair.

NIAC Working Groups:

Avian Influenza	COVID-19
Gonococcal	Mpox
Occupational Health	Pneumococcal
RSV	Revaccination post HSCT/CAR-T
Travel

Details of the working group membership, along with declarations of conflicts of interest are available here.

Links to external resources

National Immunisation Office
The National Immunisation Office provides trusted, up-to-date information about HSE immunisation programmes for children, adults and healthcare professionals in Ireland.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) provides useful information on vaccines and immunisation.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) provides extensive information and resources on vaccines and immunisation.

Meetings

NIAC meets at least every two months to discuss the latest evidence and issues in immunisation. More frequent meetings take place as required. Summaries of NIAC meetings can be found below (summaries of meetings that took place prior to 31 March 2025 are available on request).