asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the number of reported cases of legionnaires disease that have occurred in Ireland in the past five years; if he is satisfied that our hospitals are equipped to deal with these cases; if his Department are conducting any research in this matter; and if he has had any communication with the Department of the Environment to ascertain if research is being conducted into the structure of buildings which, it is believed, can cause the disease.
Written Answers . - Legionnaires Disease .
180.
: A case of legionnaires disease was reported in Cork in September 1979 and another case was reported in Dublin last month. My Department have been informed that a case has also been reported in County Fermanagh during the last month. These latter two cases had both been on the same holiday tour in Portugal.
I am satisfied that our hospitals are fully capable of providing the facilities necessary for the diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
It is only in recent years that legionnaires disease has emerged as a serious infectious disease. On the basis of current information, knowledge of the mode of transmission of the disease is imprecise. My Department have been keeping in touch with developments abroad relevant to outbreaks of the disease and the fact that I recently made legionnaires disease notifiable under the Infectious Diseases Regulations, 1948, will enable my Department to continue to monitor its incidence in this country and to consider what other steps are necessary to protect the public health.