Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 April 2004
628 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Health and Children further to Parliamentary Question No 318 of 6 April 2004, his views on whether it is acceptable that a person who is deceased 11 years has received two letters from the organisation in the past six months; if this gives rise to concerns surrounding the management of supplies and their source; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12132/04]
View answerI explained in the reply referred to by the Deputy that the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, IBTS, holds records manually and electronically for active donors, lapsed donors and donors who have been excluded from donation for one reason or another. The IBTS does not remove records from its database as it may need access to a donor's records for look-back to trace previous donations, should the need arise. The EU directive on blood quality and safety stipulates that donor records must be retained for a minimum period of 30 years to allow for full traceability. The IBTS uses its client database to contact donors when required and to encourage eligible donors to donate again. It is not uncommon for an individual to donate one or more times before allowing donations to lapse. When contacted by the IBTS, some donors welcome the opportunity to begin donating again.
Unfortunately, unless the family of a donor contacts the IBTS to it that the donor has died, the service has no way of ascertaining this information. I am assured that the IBTS regrets any distress caused to the families of deceased donors by this practice.
