• To gather, analyse and disseminate health information;
• To conduct epidemiological surveys and maintain disease registers;
• To maintain and develop the range of services and products that the Directorate produces, ranging from reports to requests for customised information, accurately and in a timely manner;
• To co-ordinate and prepare reports identifying issues, problems, unmet needs and service gaps, and recommend initiatives, review of policies, and amendments to procedures and programmes as required;
• To develop the infrastructure needed for the provision of non-expenditure data for the System of Health Accounts;
• To promote and carry out research;
• To communicate relevant results and reports from the above initiatives to stakeholders and the public.

The Directorate for Health Information and Research is responsible for the management of national health data sets on mortality, cancer, congenital anomalies, cerebral palsy, organ transplants, obstetrics, dementia, rare diseases, the hospitals information system and accidents and injuries as well as for a number of other databases on health service activity.

This Directorate is responsible for carrying out the Health Interview Surveys. The First National Health Interview Survey was done in 2002. The European Health Interview Survey was completed in 2008.

DHIR is designated as an ‘Other National Authority’ (ONA) by EUROSTAT.