Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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Question 251: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the strategic goals for the Irish Blood Transfusion Service over the next five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35651/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) published a Strategic Plan in 2005 for the period 2005-2009. It is in the process of reviewing that Plan and will publish a revised version in 2008. The following are the high level strategic goals of the IBTS over the next five years.

To provide a consistent and safe blood supply,

To build a new state of the art facility in Cork that will meet the highest standards of safety and quality,

To continually monitor emerging viruses and implement strategies to prevent transmission of viruses,

To keep abreast of the development of a test for the detection of vCJD and to take whatever steps are necessary to minimise the risk of this disease being transmitted,

To implement pro-active measures to prevent the transmission of disease, i.e. pathogen inactivation technologies,

To restructure the operation of donation clinics which will ensure that the IBTS recruits and retains sufficient donors to meet hospital demands,

To ensure that the IBTS recruits, trains and develops the staff with the appropriate levels of expertise and knowledge that will enable it to provide a world class transfusion service,

To ensure that the IBTS is at the leading edge of implementing new technologies, and

To provide a cost effective and efficient service.

The IBTS continually review its goals to ensure that it dealing with the priority issues in blood transfusion.