I propose to take Questions Nos. 489 to 491, inclusive, together.
At present the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) imposes a lifelong ban on men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood.
In June of this year, I accepted a recommendation from the IBTS that (a) the deferral policy for men who have sex with men (MSM) from donating blood should be reduced to a period of one year following their last sexual encounter with a man and (b) all donors who have had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) should be deferred from donating blood for a period of at least five years from that infection. A similar one year deferral policy has been adopted by the UK, US, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, France and Australia. This change will come into effect before the end of January 2017.
The IBTS will continue to keep all deferral policies under active review in the light of scientific evidence, emerging infections and international experience.