Seanad Report:It was horrifying that up to 100 children would be born with a fatal or a very serious condition because of a year-long delay in implementing measures to deal with it, Mary Henry (Ind) said.
Ireland has the highest incidence in the world of children born with spina bifida or anencephaly. The only way of tackling this problem is by fortifying flour with folic acid. It is known that 70-100 children are born with this condition each year.
Dr Henry said she had raised this issue on several occasions. Fortifying flour had been agreed to following numerous studies by the Department of Health. But to her horror, she had discovered that although Minister for Health Mary Harney had agreed to this course of action, she had set up a group to implement it and this was to take a year.
This meant that another 70-100 children would be born with this fatal or very serious condition.
"Well over 1,000 children have been born since I got into this House. Is there any sense of urgency about such serious issues here? I think it's deplorable that people can be treated in such an inhumane manner when something could be rectified. The rate could be brought down to nearly zero," added Dr Henry.
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Observing that it was not easy to take on the Taoiseach in his own constituency, Shane Ross (Ind) said that the Minister for Children, Brian Lenihan, had been courageous to suggest that there should be a review of the location of the new children's hospital planned for the Mater campus. The most telling argument against using the site was that due to Dublin's traffic and infrastructure problems, it would be impossible for some vehicles carrying children to get to the Mater in time for them to receive the necessary medical treatment, said Mr Ross.
"In terms of getting people in an emergency situation to a hospital, the Mater is a non-runner."
Mr Lenihan should come to the House to expand on his remarks, he said. "This particular problem must be taken out of the territorial political arena because it's far too serious for that."
House leader Mary O'Rourke said what Mr Lenihan had actually stated was: "Let's look at the complaints that have come in."