Vol. 413 No. 3
68 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if she proposes to set up a register of injuries suffered in rugby football in response to concerns about injuries to the cervical spine and especially in view of a recent article in a British Medical Journal on this issue.
Ireland participates in an EC pilot project which collects a range of information on home and leisure accidents. The European Home and Leisure Accident Surveillance System (EHLASS) gathers data through the casualty departments of two Irish hospitals — Cork Regional and Castlebar General. Sports injuries, including rugby, are included in the survey.
The article referred to by the Deputy (British Medical Journal, volume 303, 2 November 1991) indicates that the main advantages of such a register would be to identify the most frequent causes of injury and to see how the rules and practices of the game could be modified to reduce the risk of occurrence. The article also envisages that it is the relevant sporting organisations which would establish a register of this type. It notes that this was the approach taken in the United States in relation to American football.
