Vol. 408 No. 4
147 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health the monitoring of sudden infant deaths which is being undertaken or research funded by his Department and the number of occurrences for the latest year for which figures are available.
The number of recorded sudden infant deaths in children aged under 12 months during the year 1 October 1989 to 30 September 1990 was 104. However this figure relates to the number of deaths registered in that period with the Central Statistics Office rather than necessarily the number of deaths that occurred during that time.
The latest year for which information on the year of occurrence is available is 1987; there were 112 sudden infant deaths during that year.
I have been anxious to promote research into the incidence and causes of sudden infant death in Ireland. To this end I recently allocated funds from the national lottery to the Irish Sudden Infant Death Association for the establishment of a register of these deaths. The register will form an important data base for a three-year research project to be carried out by medical personnel in the association. A grant of £24,500 will be paid this year, with grants of £23,000 in both 1992 and 1993.
In 1989 and 1990, the Health Research Board funded research at the Rotunda Hospital into the pathology of the placenta associated with sudden infant death syndrome. Grants totalling £35,000 were given by the board.
