Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 260: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her Department plan to fund a study on the economic implications of hospital acquired infections; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37366/06]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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Between February and May 2006, Ireland participated in the Hospital Infection Society's "Prevalence Survey of Health Care Associated Infections" in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The survey provides accurate and comparable data on the prevalence of health care associated infections (including MRSA) in acute hospitals in Ireland and can also be compared with similar data being obtained in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Infection control staff across the UK and Ireland surveyed 75,763 beds and found that, overall, 7.6% of adult patients in acute hospitals had health care associated infections which they did not have on admission to hospital. In Ireland, the overall figure was 4.9%.

It was agreed that Scotland would perform an economic analysis to ascertain the cost of health-care associated infections. The methodology used in Scotland would then be applied to all the other countries which participated in the survey, including Ireland. I understand that the results of the economic analysis will not be available until the middle of next year. This will be the first time that this type of data will be available in Ireland and it will be used to help inform policies in relation to health-care associated infections into the future.