Vol. 518 No. 6
279 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has satisfied himself that placenta which was shipped from Irish maternity hospitals to France in the early 1990s was used for the production of gamma-globulin and albumin and not cosmetics; and the discussions he has had with a hospital (details supplied) which has stated that placenta stored at the hospital was not used to produce cosmetics. [12348/00]
The operational policy of individual hospitals is the responsibility, initially, for the hospital and health board concerned. Accordingly, I have written to the chief executive officers of the relevant agencies and asked them to reply to the Deputy as a matter of urgency.
I am concerned at the possibility that placenta may have been used in the 1990s in the production of cosmetics. However, I am pleased to note the quoted assurance given by the Master of the National Maternity Hospital that this was not the case with regard to placenta shipped to France from that hospital.
