Blood donor ban ‘not equality issue’

Any decision to lift the ban on gay people becoming blood donors will be taken on scientific grounds, as it is not an equality issue, Health Minister Leo Varadkar has said.

Mr Varadakar, who recently came out as being gay, was responding to comments from the Irish Haemophilia Society, which is opposed to gay people being allowed to donate blood.

Speaking as he opened a new €40 million critical care unit at University Hospital Limerick, Mr Varadkar said: “I have a report from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service that presents a number of options.

“It requires further consideration. We want to consult with patient groups and also I want to get advice from the Chief Medical Officer.

“I think it’s important to do that first, because any decision that’s made should be made on the grounds of science. This is an issue of patient safety and medical science, and not an equality issue, in my view.

“And of course we always need to bear in mind, when it comes to blood transfusion it’s the person receiving the blood who takes the risk, and not the person donating.”

The minister visited the UHL emergency department, which has come under frequent criticism due to overcrowding. He said a new emergency department will be open next year.

Money for the new department was not an issue, he said, but there were complex construction issues which will take time to address.

Interim solutions now being provided were not enough, and the new emergency department was needed, he said.

“I look at the statistics on the number of people on trolleys every day, so I know overcrowding has been a long-standing problem in Limerick,” he said. “In a lot of hospitals it just happens in the morning time or in winter time, but in Limerick unfortunately, it has been a year-round phenomenon.”

Asked about fears that donor kidneys may have to be sent abroad because Ireland does not have enough kidney transplant surgeons, Mr Varadkar said Beaumont Hospital has had difficulty recruiting a transplant surgeon.

He said there was only a limited number of transplant surgeons in the world.

“Recruitment is never straightforward, but I am sure it is something that will be resolved,” he said.

The minister said he would be surprised if the salary package on offer would be the main issue.

The seven-story critical care unit opened by Mr Varadkar and Finance Minister Michael Noonan, contains intensive care, high dependency and cardiac units.

Mr Varadkar said the new facility was a milestone on the road to the provision of better health services.

Nine protesters stood at the hospital gate shouting into a megaphone during the minister’s visit to the hospital.

Some visitors objected to the disturbance they were causing.

One said: “I was in visiting a very sick person and could hear their carry-on, shouting into a loudspeaker. They seem to have no regard for the people they claim they are protesting for.”