MINISTER FOR Health Mary Harney has been urged to intervene to ensure that a service for children with immune deficiencies goes ahead as planned.
Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly said a €1 million budget had been allocated for the immunology service but the development had been stalled.
He said Ireland had no dedicated immunology service for children with primary immune deficiency so children had to wait up to two years for expert attention.
Many children had to travel to the UK for assessment and treatment.
Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin is the national referral centre for paediatric immunology but it has no full-time consultant immunologist and depends on a UK consultant.
“It is my understanding that last year alone the Irish health service spent €3.6 million buying these services from the UK,” Dr Reilly said.
“This year’s budget has €1 million allocated to develop a national service here including the appointment of two consultant immunologists. While the money is there and the establishment of the service has been agreed . . . the development remains stalled in the HSE bureaucracy,” he added.
Dr Reilly urged Ms Harney to take immediate action. “Children shouldn’t be left suffering without a badly needed service because of bureaucratic blockages.”
