Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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648. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to ensure that the reporting system for deaths of babies in Irish hospitals is upgraded and streamlined to ensure that the national perinatal epidemiology centre may provide accurate figures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21331/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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It must be pointed out that perinatal mortality statistics are complex. Reporting on these rates has been hampered by different definitions of stillbirth both nationally and internationally. In Ireland, four difference agencies are involved in the compilation and reporting of perinatal data mortality data. The analysis presented in the Report of the Chief Medical Officer into Perinatal Deaths in Portlaoise Hospital (February 2014) showed that there are weaknesses and inconsistencies in perinatal data collection, collation and reporting.

A number of actions are being taken to address these discrepancies as follows:

- The notification of stillbirths is a mandatory requirement in the Civil Registration Act (2004). This Act was amended in 2014 to make notification of early neonatal deaths mandatory. The General Registration Office is working on the commencement of this.

- In addition the HSE has agreed to progress agreement of definitions and reporting of perinatal statistics in Ireland. This would include systems such as the NPRS and the NPEC.

Recommendation 4 of the CMO's Report states that the HSE should ensure that the National Perinatal Reporting System (NPRS) and the National Perinatal Epidemiological Centre (NPEC) are consolidated to create a single national reporting system for official statistics on perinatal events in Ireland. I am aware that the HSE has commenced work on this recommendation and I have asked the Executive for an update on progress.

Perinatal death is a rare event in Ireland. Given the small numbers involved the use of perinatal mortality rates by hospital as an indicator of patient safety creates a risk of false reassurance and also can raise false alerts. It is, therefore, important to look at these in conjunction with, for example, confidence intervals per hospital and other methods in order to distinguish between the stability of estimates based on small versus large numbers. Therefore, caution needs to be exercised in the interpretation of perinatal data by hospital for the reasons set out.