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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 Apr 2002

Vol. 552 No. 3

Written Answers. - Hospital Services.

John Dennehy

Question:

128 Mr. Dennehy asked the Minister for Health and Children the status of the proposal to provide a lung transplant service for cystic fibrosis patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12512/02]

The Deputy will be aware that the programme for Government, An Action Programme for the Millennium, contains a specific commitment to support the establishment of a heart and lung transplant facility in Ireland and to ensuring that the programme, when introduced, will be in a position to match the highest international standards in lung transplantation.

The Mater Hospital, Dublin, has been designated as the surgical site for the programme. The provision of a lung transplant unit at the hospital forms part of a major capital development approved for the hospital. In order to progress this project an expert consultative group, chaired by the Eastern Regional Health Authority, was established to advise my Department on various issues associated with the development of the programme. The report of the consultative group has been received and is being progressed as a priority by my Department in conjunction with the ERHA and the Mater Hospital. The report was the subject of a recent and very positive discussion with the ERHA and the Mater Hospital. My Department is currently awaiting some additional information from the hospital in order to advance the various issues associated with the establishment of this very complex service.
In terms of progressing the establishment of the programme the Deputy will be pleased to know that a number of key clinical appointments have already been made at the Mater Hospital, including the appointment of a consultant surgeon and a consultant physician. Pending the establishment of the programme in this country, an agreement is in place with the Freeman Hospital in the UK for the treatment of Irish patients requiring a lung or heart and lung transplant. To date, 19 patients from this country have received a transplant at the Freeman Hospital under the agreement. This contract will continue while the necessary arrangements are being progressed in terms of establishing the programme in Ireland.
It is also important to note that lungs donated in Ireland have been retrieved by the medical team at Newcastle and have helped to facilitate this additional transplant work at Newcastle for the benefit of Irish patients. Finally, I wish to assure the Deputy that the establishment of the Irish programme will continue to be progressed as a priority by my Department in conjunction with the ERHA and the Mater Hospital.
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