Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 24: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children her views on whether it is inappropriate that MRSA patients are nursed in open wards with a huge risk for other patients, particularly those patients on chemotherapy who are unable to fight infection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9434/05]

Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 138: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children her views on whether the MRSA epidemic in hospitals here is contributed to by overcrowding and lack of proper facilities for cancer patients; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9555/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 138 together.

In 1995, a Department of Health committee comprising representatives from the Department of Health, consultant microbiologists, specialists in public health medicine and general practice and a representative from the Association of Infection Control Nurses produced a set of guidelines for the management of MRSA in acute hospital wards, including specialist units. The implementation and operation of these guidelines in acute hospitals is a matter for those hospitals in the first instance.

An infection control sub-committee of the National Committee for Strategy for the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance in Ireland, SARI, has now prepared a draft revised set of guidelines. These guidelines are still at the consultation stage and cover a number of areas including physical cleanliness of the environment, hand hygiene, antibiotic stewardship programmes, and availability of isolation facilities as well as screening and detection protocols.

The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. The implications of the revised guidelines for the health system and issues around their implementation will be a matter for the HSE to consider.