Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo Senator Warfield's comment. When the Opposition does a good job, and succeeds after more than a year to introduce legislation, I often wonder why the Member is told that it is not perfect enough. Is this because the Department does not want to see the Opposition bringing much-need legislation through the Oireachtas? Be that as it may, we will keep doing it.

On the issue of notifiable diseases, last week we had an outbreak of mumps and this week an outbreak of measles. The incidence of measles is on the rise worldwide. We have had some 70 cases so far this year, whereas the total last year was much lower than that. There is a concern about the uptake of vaccination for notifiable diseases because if fewer than 95% of the population are vaccinated we lose the herd immunity. The undermining of vaccines has gone on for a long time. There are certain celebrity types in the US who use social media to a great extent to undermine vaccination. We saw the scare mongering that went on when the HPV was provided. I would like the Minister for Health to come to this Chamber to talk to us about the HSE health protection surveillance centre's information on the uptake of vaccination and the notification of notifiable diseases. We need to achieve an uptake of 95% of the eligible population. I know that the uptake figures are sadly lower. This is a public health issue but lots of people are allowing a misunderstanding of the science to influence behaviour. As legislators and as public representatives we need to continuously support the programme of vaccination and highlight the need for it.