Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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523. To ask the Minister for Health if, in view of the fact there is no deferral period for sexually active gay and bisexual persons donating blood in a number of European Union states (details supplied) and there is a review of the deferral period in the United Kingdom, he will review the requirement for a 12 month deferral period here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37022/16]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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At present the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) imposes a lifelong ban on men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood.

In June of this year, I accepted a recommendation from the IBTS 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. This change will come into effect before the end of January 2017.

A similar one year deferral policy has been adopted by the UK, US, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, France and Australia.

The IBTS will continue to keep all deferral policies under active review in the light of scientific evidence, emerging infections and international experience.