Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for permitting me to raise this issue. It is the second time I raised the sad case of a 24 year old constituent who contracted CJD. I raised it on 5 May 2005 when the young man was still in hospital. Jason Moran of Shankill, County Dublin has since died. At his recent inquest, the Dublin County Coroner called for a State investigation into Jason's death and the possibility that there may be a CJD cluster in the local area.

It has emerged that three cases of variant CJD were closely linked geographically, namely, the case of Jason Moran from Shankill, a second case in Bray and a third case with close family ties in Ballybrack. The total distance between the places where all three cases occurred is approximately five miles.

As I stated in May, Jason Moran contracted variant CJD in Ireland. He had not been out of the country prior to the time in which he could have picked up the disease and it follows that he must have contracted CJD from a meat product purchased and consumed in Ireland. That two other cases have such close geographic links to Jason raises obvious questions as to whether there are CJD clusters.

The State authorities have a duty to investigate how Jason Moran contracted variant CJD in the first instance and whether there are any links to the other cases. I understand that the HSE has been asked to carry out some inquiries. I would like to know more about their nature and whether it is intended to publish the outcome. I do not wish to raise an alarm about the cases concerned but, given the Jason Moran case and two others, the possibilities must be fully examined and the results made public.

Separately, the Government should introduce a compensation scheme for the families of variant CJD victims. Such a scheme was introduced in the United Kingdom following the publication of the Southwood report in 1989. The Government should do the same. The most immediate requirement is for the State to accede to the request of the county coroner, hold an investigation into these cases and publish the results.

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