Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein)
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My question is fairly straightforward. I asked it earlier in the year and was pleased to be informed at that stage that the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, IBTS, was set to carry out a review of the ban on blood donations from people who were resident in the North and in Britain during the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, vCJD, crisis, in July of this year. Having submitted this Commencement matter I received a very helpful response from the Minister for Health yesterday on the review. This morning provides an opportunity to reiterate the call for more blood donations. People should actively consider that as well as organ donation. While we have to be scientifically and medically sound to keep the system free of and safe from contamination, it has been quite a long time since the vCJD crisis emerged and there is merit in the review taking place. When will the review be concluded and is there any indication of what its findings might be?

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for his continued interest in this and his concise and direct approach to it. I am happy to have the opportunity to advise the Seanad further on this matter. The remit of the IBTS, is to provide a safe, reliable and robust blood service to the Irish health system. The IBTS constantly keeps all deferral polices under review.

The IBTS currently has a permanent deferral policy in place for individuals who have resided for more than one year, cumulative, in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands, between the years 1980 and 1996. This deferral policy was introduced in 2004 following the first confirmed case of vCJD transmission via blood transfusion in the UK. There is no test for vCJD and confirmation that someone had the disease is only possible post mortem. In July, a special meeting of the medical advisory committee of the board of the IBTS was held to review the IBTS deferral policy in relation to vCJD and to consider the current scientific and medical evidence on vCJD transmission. It was decided at the meeting not to change the donor deferral policy at this time. It was agreed that a full risk assessment was warranted and the medical and scientific director of the IBTS has since commenced this assessment. The assessment will consider the current medical and scientific evidence available, involving a systematic examination of all relevant literature, studies and reports. Once this is complete a further meeting of the medical advisory committee will review the decisions made at the July meeting. This review is expected to be completed by mid-2019.

If the outcome of the risk assessment indicates that the IBTS could safely relax the current deferral polices in regard to vCJD, then a case for such changes will be made to the board of the IBTS and subsequently to the Department of Health. The focus of my Department will at all times be to ensure the provision of a quality supply of blood to the Irish health system. Decisions on changes to deferral policies for blood donation must always be supported by rigorous scientific and medical evidence.

Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. That is pretty clear. This is not a question of running ramstam into this or seeking to compromise or jeopardise the scientific and medical soundness of the blood supply. This emanates from people who may have been working in England or Scotland during this period and now want to donate blood, to heed the call from the Department of Health and from the IBTS. It is a question of trying to find a balanced and safe, medical and scientific basis for allowing more people to donate blood. I reiterate the call to the Department and the IBTS not to lose sight of this issue and keep it under review. If God spares us all, it might be something I will come back to in mid-2019.

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Senator for his consistent and continued interest in this issue and for continuing to keep it to the fore. He has been very responsible in his approach and response to it. His focus is to be welcomed because while it is important to get the balance right it is also important to get a timely balance right. That is where his contribution is most helpful.