Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State. I am pleased a Minister from the Department of Health is responding to this important debate.

The Government demonstrated a deep commitment to children by appointing a senior Minister with specific responsibility in this area. Through this and the children's rights referendum, it has displayed a commitment to children above and beyond what any previous Government did, which is appropriate. However, Ireland has the highest incidence of meningitis in the European Union which is not acceptable. An immunisation programme for meningitis C was introduced at one stage and dramatically reduced the number of children diagnosed with this awful condition to zero in 2012. It had a 100% success rate. Within two years one could count on one hand the number of children suffering from the disease. Thankfully, a vaccine became available for meningitis B at the beginning of 2013. It has been accepted in countries such as Australia, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy and, in the past week, the United Kingdom. These countries are rolling out programmes to vaccinate all children against this dreadful disease.

Many people have lost loved ones to meningitis. We probably all know somebody who has. When my wife was aged four years, she was diagnosed with the disease and luckily survived it. We share a deep sense of responsibility to do what we can to ensure the lives of young people are saved when it is possible to do so. The national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, met to discuss the new vaccine after the United Kingdom had decided to roll out a programme, but it postponed making a recommendation to the Minister, even though its members sit in on the deliberations in the United Kingdom on such programmes. They have all of the knowledge the UK Government has, but they decided to postpone making a recommendation to the Minister. This is serious. The families of people who suffer or who have suffered from meningitis and families who have lost loved ones to meningitis are appalled to think this vaccine is not being rolled out immediately. Children in Northern Ireland have access to a vaccine, but those in the South do not. What is worse is that if a family is wealthy, it can buy the vaccine because it is available to those who can afford it. Not alone is there inequality between people here and in Northern Ireland, there is also inequality between rich and poor. This does not equate to cherishing all the children of the nation equally.

I hope the Minister of State will outline a timeline for the introduction of the vaccine. If the NIAC is not prepared to make a recommendation quickly, I ask the Minister to direct the committee to do so and place a time limit on it. This is an important issue and a solution is available that will save children's lives immediately. There have been seven meningitis B cases in the past four or five weeks in counties Cavan, Limerick, Sligo, Dublin and Cork. Therefore, this issue needs urgent attention.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me with an opportunity to update the House on it.

Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of invasive meningococcal disease, commonly known as meningitis. In 2013, 81 cases of invasive meningococcal disease were notified in Ireland, with serogroup B, commonly referred to as meningitis B, accounting for 68 of these cases. This represents a decline of 77% from the peak in 1999 when 292 cases of meningitis B were notified. Despite this significant improvement, Ireland has the highest incidence of meningococcal disease, particularly meningitis B, among EU countries. Since 1999, 51% of cases have occurred in children aged under two years. The highest age specific incidence rate for meningitis B cases is seen in young children under four years of age, particularly those in the first year of life. In 2013 the age specific incidence rate was 35.9 per 100,000 for children less than a year old, with another smaller peak seen among older teenagers. Low rates are normally seen in those older than 25 years.

The immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC. This is a committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland comprising experts in a number of specialties, including infectious diseases, paediatrics and public health. The committee's recommendations are informed by evidence based public health advice, international best practice and cost benefit analyses carried out by the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics.

In January 2013 a new vaccine against invasive meningococcal disease serogroup B received marketing authorisation from the European Commission. The NIAC is monitoring international data for the use of this vaccine as part of immunisation programmes. It has recently issued guidance relating to its use in the control of clusters or outbreaks of meningitis B. However, to date, as the Senator pointed out, it has made no recommendation on the introduction of meningococcal B vaccination in the primary childhood immunisation schedule. Meningococcal B vaccine was discussed at the NIAC meeting on 24 March. The decision on whether to recommend the inclusion of the vaccine in the primary immunisation programme raises complex issues that require thoughtful consideration. New information on this issue, including revised parameters for assessment used recently by the joint committee for vaccination and immunisation in the United Kngdom, is being taken into account.

I am sure the House will appreciate that it would be inappropriate to comment on anticipated outcomes of the deliberations of the NIAC. However, should the committee advise the inclusion of a new meningococcal B vaccine in the primary childhood vaccination programme in Ireland, the Department, in association with the Health Service Executive's national immunisation office, will then examine and address the matter.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. In the past five weeks, there have been seven meningitis B cases. I raise this in case I got the figure wrong earlier. I fully accept that the Minister cannot intervene in the recommendation process but he certainly can give a timeframe. The Minister can say he wants a recommendation by a particular date. We need a timeline. I cannot see any reason the Minister cannot express to NIAC that he would like a recommendation, one way or another, as a matter of urgency.

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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With respect, I do not believe it is open to the Minister to give a direction to NIAC in that regard although I understand what the Senator is driving at. NIAC, as I pointed out, is a committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. It is a committee that advises the Minister. I do not believe there would or could be any inordinate delay on the part of the committee with regard to its analysis of this problem or, as the Senator pointed out, this pressing issue. If I can establish further information on how matters stand, I will certainly do so for the Senator. As far as I am aware, I do not believe it is open to the Minister to make a direction because it seems to me, without my having checked the detail on the specific relationship between NIAC, the HSE and the Minister, that the advisory function of the committee is such that it must be left to do the work it conducts for the Minister and HSE. I take the Senator's point on the importance of this matter, however, and I will certainly obtain for him any further information I can glean on expediting this matter.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I will get my office to contact the Minister of State's office.