Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

No, not by the Leader. I was damned by the keyboard warriors as anti-vaccine, and it has plagued me ever since.Well, the keyboard warriors can stick this one into their agenda now. I am deeply concerned at the absence of the BCG vaccination, which was used for TB. I understand there are virtually no stocks of BCG left in the country. With the immigration that has taken place over the years, I understand as many as ten people a week are being diagnosed with TB. In addition, the meningitis B vaccine has been denied to some children while other children are getting it. I heard a story yesterday that I found difficult to believe but I verified it. A three year old child is not immunised against meningitis B whereas her four month old sister can be, free of charge.

If the mother wants to have the three year old vaccinated, she has pay to €350. We all know the damage meningitis can do to children. We need the Minister for Health to come in. We need answers on the BCG vaccination and TB. If TB is on the increase we need to see the vaccine made available again. We also need the meningitis B vaccine for young children to be made freely available to all and not just a select few.

On a side issue, as the Leader knows, I have spoken a number of times on the Defence Forces over the last couple of days. This morning I was told that in the Leader's own bailiwick of Cork, members of the Naval Service are waiting months for duty pay. Apparently, the same applies in the Air Corps but not so much in the Army. I ask the Leader to get an answer on that for me. What is the logjam? What is holding it up? When people are depending on something like the family income supplement, it is not good enough that duty pay is not paid in a timely fashion.