Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

To move to the issue of the infant mortality rate, has the Central Statistics Office an explanation as to why the Irish rate of five deaths per 1,000 is higher than the EU 15 rate prior to accession and the EU 25 rate for infant mortality? It seems anomalous in a country that is supposed to be one of the more prosperous in Europe that we have such a high rate of infant mortality. How is this explained and how is the information used within the health service?

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