Dr. Bob McDonnell:

Yes, it is an absolute priority. Within the east, we have wanted to extend surveillance of neural tube defects to the midlands on an ongoing basis rather than a special survey from 2009 to 2011. We also want to extend surveillance into the north east and other parts of the country, in other words, to cover the other 38% of births within Ireland that are not covered by the three registries. We found that the legislation issue is stopping people from going in and getting the data because the data are very sensitive.