Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 16: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to recent concerns expressed that this country may not be adequately prepared to deal with any flu pandemic; the procedures which are in place to deal with such a situation; the reserves of vaccine held to deal with such a situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4204/05]

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 46: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if consultants have not been co-operating with the committee set up to deal with the possible flu pandemic; the action she intends to take in regard to same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4167/05]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 62: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children if she will report on the Government's preparations for a possible flu pandemic, her views on whether there are not sufficient supplies of effective anti-viral drugs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4165/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to answer Questions Nos. 16, 46 and 62 together.

Ireland's first influenza pandemic preparedness plan was finalised in 2002. "A Model Plan for Influenza Pandemic Preparedness" was prepared by a committee under the chairmanship of Professor William Hall, director of the national virus reference laboratory, NVRL, and was presented to the Department of Health and Children in September 2002.

An expert group was established by my predecessor in late 2003 to update the 2002 plan in light of experience with SARS. It is chaired by Professor Hall. The outline plan sets out various recommendations and options. Following detailed consideration of these options, the expert group will make specific recommendations about the implementation of the various aspects of the plan.

The expert group met in November 2003 and January 2004; a meeting scheduled for March 2004 was cancelled because of the non-participation of consultants in departmental committee meetings. No further meetings were possible in 2004. I now understand that an exception is being made in the case of the influenza pandemic expert group. Arrangements are being made for an early meeting. There have been preliminary meetings within the last two weeks between the chairman and officials of my Department to prepare for this meeting.

This 2002 WHO plan is being updated to incorporate new scientific data and experience obtained during recent outbreaks. A WHO consultation meeting held in December 2004 recommended several revisions to the WHO preparedness plan. The updating of our pandemic plan will take account of these recommendations once agreed and published by the World Health Organisation.

In addition to the expert committee work, a contingency planning steering group was established by my Department in January 2004 to oversee the development of a generic public health contingency plan for the health system which would be activated in the event of a large scale emergency resulting from an infectious diseases outbreak or incident, such as SARS, influenza pandemic and so forth, to mitigate the impact of such an emergency. The implementation process is now under the direction of the Health Service Executive.

Vaccination is the principal measure for preventing influenza and reducing the impact of epidemics. It will be the primary public health intervention in the event of an influenza pandemic. However, the production of a vaccine tailored to a pandemic influenza strain could take six to nine months. Developments are underway at international level seeking to expedite this process. At European level, EU member states and the European Commission agreed in 2004 to engage with the pharmaceutical industry regarding vaccines and antivirals. A report on this issue is scheduled for consideration by the health security committee next week.

Pending the availability of virus specific vaccines, antiviral drugs will be the only influenza specific medical intervention available for use in a pandemic. It will be necessary to use antivirals to treat individuals who are ill, particularly those who may be more vulnerable to the virus, and to protect essential workers and vulnerable groups.

Priorities for treatment and prophylaxis, prevention, are discussed in the 2002 influenza pandemic plan. The influenza pandemic expert group established in 2003 is reviewing this plan, including the recommendations for use of antivirals. As already stated, the work of the expert group was delayed through 2004 by the non-participation of consultants in departmental committee meetings. However, my Department has continued work on refining the estimated requirements for antivirals. It is intended to reconvene the expert group in the near future to review these estimates and complete its important work.