Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise an issue that has been in the newspapers recently concerning the heel prick test, which is the screening test operated by the HSE under what is known as the national newborn blood spot screening programme. It is a screening programme for six rare genetic diseases and more recently also for cystic fibrosis. The results of the heel prick tests on newborns are kept on Guthrie cards in Temple Street Children?s Hospital. I understand that the results from 1984 to 2002 are currently kept there but recently the Government announced that they would be destroyed. The reason I raise the issue today is that parents have two more weeks to seek to retain the records of their newborn child. The deadline is 31 March. The Data Protection Commissioner ruled some years ago that it was in breach of data protection laws that the screening cards would be retained.