The number of patients who received a blood product potentially linked to the CJD infection will not rise above the new estimate of 467, the Minister for Health has said.
It emerged yesterday that the number of people who received the blood product Amerscan Pulmonate II was greater than the initial total of 268. The lower figure was based on the number of vials used by the nine main hospitals during the radiological procedure in which the withdrawn product was used.
Following the collation of the latest data, Mr Cowen confirmed that the number of patients who had undergone the procedure had risen by 199. Up to last night, eight of the hospitals had identified the numbers involved and the ninth had provided the Department of Health with a maximum possible figure for patients treated with Amerscan Pulmonate II.
After outlining the events which led to the revelations that the blood agent had been withdrawn, Mr Cowen said he had instructed that "medical personnel" be employed at his Department to deal with queries from members of the public seeking information on the problem.
Facing a round of Opposition questioning in the Dail, during which he rejected claims that he and his Department had failed to take appropriate action to notify those involved, Mr Cowen apologised to people who had not received the information they required when they telephoned the Department.
The Labour Party's health spokeswoman, Ms Roisin Shortall, had criticised the manner in which "desperately distraught" people who called the Department had been met by an answering machine.
Saying that medical personnel would be put in place to advise callers to the Department, the Minister strongly advised people with concerns to consult their GPs.
The Minister agreed with Opposition deputies that news of the latest CJD controversy should not have been conveyed to the public on the national airwaves. It was "extremely unfortunate" that the matter had got into the public domain before individual patients could be informed privately of the situation.
Each hospital is to be asked to arrange for the appropriate consultants to meet patients individually and brief them on their circumstances. The consultants will then forward reports to the patients' GPs.