Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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572. To ask the Minister for Health the reason that oral sex was maintained as grounds for deferral of men who have sex with men in donating blood, following a previous decision of the board of an organisation (details supplied) to remove oral sex as a basis for deferral; if there was concern about this specific change in policy; the reason that this was not raised during the process engaged in by the Social Behaviours Review Group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45928/22]

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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573. To ask the Minister for Health if the individualised risk assessment system to be introduced for all prospective blood donors from December 2022 will reflect the three-month deferral policy used in the United Kingdom; if not, the reason for the difference; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45929/22]

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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574. To ask the Minister for Health if the replacement of the health and lifestyle questionnaire with an electronic self-assessment health history questionnaire by an organisation (details supplied) will be completed, as anticipated, in Q3 of 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45930/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 572 to 574, inclusive, together.

The remit of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) is to provide a safe, reliable and robust blood service to the Irish health system. A major objective of the IBTS is to ensure that it always has the necessary programmes and procedures in place to protect both the recipients and the donors of blood and blood products. The IBTS constantly keeps all deferral policies under active review, in the light of scientific evidence, emerging infections and international evidence, to ensure the ongoing safety of blood and the products derived from it.

The IBTS established an independent ‘Advisory Committee for Social Behaviours Review’ to review the evidence base for donor selection, deferral and exclusion in Ireland in relation to social behaviours that may increase the risk of acquiring specific blood-borne infections.

In relation to the implementation of the Social Behaviour Review Group's recommendations, the IBTS determined that oral sex between gay and bisexual Men who have Sex with Men (gbMSM) would be one of a number of sexual behaviours which would be considered in the comprehensive risk assessment undertaken as part of the implementation process. This mirrors the approach previously taken by the UK Blood Services with the introduction of the FAIR system of individual assessment.

The deferral period in Ireland is four months as that is the deferral period used in the EU Blood Directive. For some deferrals the Directive does state three months, and this will be evaluated once the extensive revision of the EU Directive, currently in progress, is completed and the updated Directive implemented.

With regard to the electronic questionnaire, due to complexity of the modifications required to existing blood systems, the implementation of the electronic health questionnaire has been delayed until the end of Q1 2023. The IBTS will however be implementing a safe paper-based version of the individualised donor risk assessment by the end of the 2022. Again, this is similar to the approach taken by the UK blood services.