On the 9th of February 2012 Dr James Reilly visited the ICORG Central Office, this was the first time a Minister for Health had done so. In the 75 mins of presentations, discussion and Q & A, the Minister indicated that he was impressed with all the Group had achieved, was extremely supportive of the role of research and the many benefits it brings to a health system, and was keen to see ICORG grow and flourish. He also indicated that in his opinion ICORG was both an excellent model and benchmark for clinical research in Ireland.
At a follow up meeting with ICORG and MTCI three weeks later, the minister stated "We are very interested in research and we are very interested in what ICORG has done. I think it is a wonderful model for promoting the services and we are very keen to support more research and even in a constrained environment in terms of our finances, this is an area where our Government can see research developing and giving us a cutting edge into the future. I accept totally what John (Crown) says around the issue of patient care as well, that being in a trial gives much greater supervision than you might get normally, so not alone are you getting the best and latest drugs but you are also getting the best of care”.