Bernard Allen
Ceist:375 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if funding will be made available in 1999 for the construction of a new blood transfusion unit in Cork; and when the project will be proceeded with. [10310/99]
Written Answers. - Blood Transfusion Unit.
The main priority in relation to capital investment in the Blood Transfusion Service Board is to ensure regulatory compliance. The Irish Medicines Board, the regulatory authority for the BTSB, required the replacement of the area for processing donations at the Cork centre as a condition of its manufacturing licence which covers the period to 31 October, 1999. The BTSB recently completed the provision of new components processing laboratory at the Cork centre. Funding for this project was made available by my Department as a matter of priority. The BTSB has advised that the new laboratory is now among the best of its kind in Europe, and that, at a recent inspection by the IMB, the level of compliance was in accordance with the EC Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice. The total level of capital funding made available was £524,000 which also ensured the provision of a new compatibility testing laboratory, new product storage area, an upgrade of the donor clinic, and new office accommodation. Additional capital requirements specified recently by the IMB are currently being assessed by the BTSB and it not expected that necessary capital investment required will be significant.
I advised the Deputy in reply to a parliamentary question of 20 April 1999 that further capital investment in the centre will be dictated by the requirements of the IMB and any additional resources necessary for this purpose will be made available. Funding necessary for this purpose will be made available in 1999. Furthermore, proposals submitted by the board of the BTSB for capital investment which are over and above those necessary to ensure regulatory compliance will also be considered by my Department.