Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I am glad to have the opportunity to raise this issue and to get a response from the Government on possible changes to TB services, particularly in the Cork region and particularly in regard to screening and the administration of the BCG vaccine. I raise this issue because towards the end of August there was an outbreak of TB at Crab Lane national school, Ballintemple, which resulted in the return to school being postponed for a week while the HSE notified parents, children and staff. There are 220 children in the school and the HSE initiated a screening process, the end result of which was that 31 pupils and three staff tested positive for latent TB and six pupils tested positive for active TB. Anyone who knows someone who has been diagnosed with TB in even its latent form will know it requires a dose of antibiotics for a minimum of six months, and we are talking about children in this case.

This is the second outbreak in Cork in recent history. In 2008 there were two outbreaks in crèches when 15 children and two adults were affected, and hundreds of children required X-rays and antibiotics.

While I have never received a definitive answer as to whether it was a policy decision based on prevention or for a financial reason, the administration of BCG vaccines to newborn children was discontinued in the 1970s. My children, many children of their age and many children currently of school-going age did not receive the BCG vaccine as a routine act when they were infants. In 2008, however, the BCG vaccine was reintroduced and the result is that we now have lengthy waiting lists. I have asked the Minister, Deputy Harney, in regard to the number of children awaiting the BCG vaccine, which is provided to newborns in the maternity hospital at present, and she has forwarded the question to the HSE. The figures for the Cork region are above average. Does the Minister believe this is because the BCG vaccine was not available?

There is also the issue of whether the screening process should be extended. Revised guidelines which recommended the extension of screening were proposed to the HSE. I would like to hear from the Minister of State whether there is any intention to revise and expand the screening process. The chief medical officer has requested that the HSE would provide information to him regarding the routine administration of the BCG vaccine.

There is concern among parents, not just those of children in this school and their community but in the wider Cork community, that TB services have not been up to the same standard provided throughout the rest of the country. A consultant, Dr. Cathal Bredin, was quoted in the media as stating he believed there were still hidden reservoirs of TB in the Cork region which would account for the kind of sudden outbreak that occurred in August. I wish to express the concern of parents and the community in Cork that services would be provided to prevent TB outbreaks and to ensure that children are immunised against TB. The BCG vaccine has proven effective against 70% to 80% of TB strains, so it is very important. it is also national immunisation policy that the vaccination would be provided as a matter of course.

There was no recent outbreak of TB prior to 2008. I would like the Minister of State to address that issue and also the issue of whether screening for TB is to be extended.

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