Ireland has the second biggest rate of asthma sufferers

IRISH children are the second biggest asthma sufferers in the EU, with only the UK reporting more cases.

Delegates attending a childhood asthma workshop in University College Cork today will hear that treatment of under 15-year-olds with asthma is expected to cost the economy an estimated €56 million this year.

Health Minister Micheál Martin, who will launch the Irish EU Health Presidency initiative, outlined some of the factors which have made asthma the most common chronic disease in childhood.