Joint Committee on Public Petitions to consider petition seeking to raise awareness of ‘silent killer’ sepsis

The meeting at 1.30pm in Committee Room 4 of Leinster House will hear from the petitioner, Mr Hughes, and Ms Doireann O'Mahony of the Irish Sepsis Foundation.

Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Martin Browne said: “This petition seeks to raise greater awareness of sepsis, a deadly condition which five years ago tragically claimed the life of Joseph Hughes’s 15-year-old son Sean, a talented young rap artist known as ‘Lil Red’.

“Mr Hughes is asking the Minister for Health and the HSE to produce and fund an advert on national television showing the public how to recognize the symptoms of sepsis to increase awareness of sepsis, a ‘silent killer’ that according to the HSE results in an average of 2,400 deaths in Ireland each year, although the true figure may be much higher.

“The Committee welcomes Mr Hughes and Ms O’Mahony from the Irish Sepsis Foundation and looks forward to discussing this important matter with them.”

The Joint Committee on Public Petitions is a standing Committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas and has 11 Members, seven from the Dáil and four from the Seanad.

The meeting in the Committee Room 4 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.