Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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465. To ask the Minister for Health the date the new policies on men who have sex with men, MSM, blood donors will come into effect; if the media reports of an implementation date of 16 January 2017 are accurate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31906/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In June of this year, I accepted a recommendation from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service that (a) the deferral policy for men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood should be reduced to a period of one year following their last sexual encounter with a man and (b) all donors who have had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) should be deferred from donating blood for a period of at least five years from that infection (current deferral periods vary depending on the STI concerned).

The IBTS advise that these changes will be implemented by the end of January 2017.