Vol. 551 No. 4
144 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No. 585 of 30 January 2002, when he intends to provide the information promised; the status of the numbers administered and re-vaccinated in each board area; and if he will make a detailed statement on the delay. [10763/02]
My Department wrote to each health board and health authority in January 2002 concerning the information sought by the Deputy in relation to the number of children who had received oral polio vaccine more than one month after its expiry date and who have been re-vaccinated.
My Department has again written recently to the health boards indicating that it is essential that details of the actual number of children re-vaccinated be provided as a matter of urgency.
The most recent responses received from the health boards and health authority indicate that they are experiencing some difficulty in establishing, from general practitioners, details of the number of children re-vaccinated. In addition, in some regions details of the number of children who received vaccine after the expiry date may need to be re-validated based on GPs' assertions that the vaccine used had not passed the expiry date.
I regret the delay in providing the information, however, I would like to assure the Deputy that my Department is actively pursuing this matter with the health boards and health authority concerned. I will provide the information to the Deputy as soon as it is received.
