Products purchased in this country for use by people with the most common clotting factor deficiencies are no longer made from blood, but are recombinant or synthetic products. Towards the end of the 1990s recombinant products were developed which offered a greater margin of safety with regard to the transmission of infections. At the end of 1997 the Department of Health and Children approved the replacement of plasma-derived Factor 8 with a recombinant product. The replacement process was put into effect immediately during 1998. The Department also approved in advance the replacement of the plasma-derived Factor 9 product. As soon as the recombinant product became available in early 1999, it replaced the plasma-derived product. In that regard, the tribunal found that the situation in Ireland now compares very favourably with many other countries and was remarked upon by many of the international experts who gave evidence to the tribunal.