Vol. 549 No. 1
51 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps being taken to provide the Irish Blood Transfusion Service with sufficient resources to ensure adequate supplies of blood; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5775/02]
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service has advised my Department that it has sufficient personnel, equipment and finances to ensure that it is in a position to maintain an adequate blood supply. There are sufficient supplies of blood at the present time to meet all hospital requirements.
The service, like other transfusion services internationally, experiences seasonal difficulties especially over the Christmas period in maintaining adequate supplies. In order to improve the blood supply, the IBTS invested considerable resources in a major donor recruitment campaign during January which was highly successful. In January, 23,800 donors attended clinics throughout the country which is a 56% increase in the number of donors who attended in January, 2001. A total of 4,200 new donors attended which is an increase of 127%. These donor figures also reflect the significant investment which the service has made recently in local donor recruitment initiatives and in decentralised mobile collection teams in Ardee, County Louth and Carlow. A new team will be established in Tuam, County Galway in the coming weeks. These teams will augment the existing collection services in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
The response of donors to the appeal over recent weeks has been exceptional and I wish to acknowledge their generosity. I would ask donors to continue to donate during the year to ensure that the service can maintain adequate supplies for use by patients in our hospitals.
