Ms Geraldine Fitzpatrick:

We are aware that the Irish Medicines Board regulates infertility clinics. While I fully agree with Senator Colm Burke that clinics operate to the highest standards, I do not know if the Irish Medicines Board has a quality department. The Health Information and Quality Authority has a model of quality and standards and is familiar with using key performance indicators and so forth. I accept that it is preferable to have one rather than two bodies with responsibility for this area. If the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in Britain can work with the Care Quality Commission, why can HIQA not work with the Irish Medicines Board? I do not know the answer to that question.

There is no question about the quality of services and the standards operating in the clinics. However, we lack independent data and we would like the data from clinic A, B, C and D to be presented in one place in exactly the same fashion. While one clinic may provide statistics to show it has a success rate of 50%, the clinic in question may deal only with women aged under 35 years. One must take a reasonable approach in which all the data are presented in an identical manner in order that people can compare like with like. We need information on results and adverse advents. Perhaps the Irish Medicines Board has the ability to do this and it may have a quality department. We are so used to hearing the Health Information and Quality Authority mentioned in the context of quality that the name "HIQA" comes to mind when we think of quality. This area needs to be embraced by a single body.

All these doctors are well used to dealing with either HIQA or the Irish Medicines Board, so I do not see any of them having a problem with either as long as the expertise is at hand. There is no point in duplicating work if there are experts in one place but none in another. I absolutely take the point but we lack independent data and it is exactly the same for every clinic across the board. That is what is needed in this country.