A four-year project to examine the causes of hospital superbug MRSA and other related infections was announced today.
The €1.5 million project - funded by the Health Research Board - will examine if sterilising corridors, wards and theatres, rather than using disinfectant, is more effective.
The research team involves the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin Dental School and Hospital, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre and the National MRSA Reference Laboratory.
The project will also aim to improve hand hygiene to achieve near 100 per cent compliance with best practice.
There were more than 500 MRSA bloodstream infections in 2005, but it is not yet mandatory for hospitals to record figures.
The project was welcomed by the MRSA & Families group, but spokeswoman Margaret Dawson also called for health workers to be screened for the superbug.
She said: "There are thousands of nurses and doctors who could be carriers and nobody would know."
A delegation from MRSA & Families is travelling to The Netherlands next month to study infection controls in its national health service.
PA