THE board of the blood transfusion service was informed there was HIV-infected product in the donations system in 1993, a spokesman for the board confirmed last night.
The Department of Health would not comment last night on reports that an official received a letter from the BTSB in 1993, informing it that blood from a donor who had tested positive for HIV was used in transfusions.
The Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, will conduct a "full review" this morning and make a statement to the Dail tomorrow, a Department spokesman said last night. Mr Noonan, meanwhile, rejected a call for the BTSB's disbandment by PD health spokeswoman Senator Cathy Honan. It was essential, he said, "to maintain confidence in the board [BTSB] and its continued ability to sustain an adequate blood supply".
But Ms Honan said the public had lost all confidence in the BTSB and it was particularly disturbing to hear the board had been informed of possible HIV infection three years ago. It had failed to inform the Minister even though the Department was represented on it at the time.
BTSB chief executive Mr Liam Dunbar would not comment yesterday on the latest controversy. But Mr Dunbar, appointed in April 1995, insisted last week the board had not been informed that the BTSB was attempting to identify the recipients of possible HIV-infected blood products.
Mr Dunbar said the particular donors involved were looked on as "a small group who had never been concluded" since it had not been considered a "major issue", the BTSB had not felt everyone should be alerted.
His board would have been informed when the results of the inquiry to the 45 hospitals were made known, said Mr Dunbar. "It was a residual problem that would have been told to the board and the Department of Health once we had concluded our inquiries," he said.
It would have been a problem, he said, if it had been faced with a situation where it was unable to trace batches. Then he said the board would have had to "take further steps".
The spokesman for the BTSB said the board was informed "generally of the issue" of HIV infected blood in 1993. There had been a single case in 1993 where a blood donor had tested positive for HIV. A look-back programme had been carried out in this case and it was found that none of the recipients of this donor's blood was infected.
Asked why the board had not delved further into the problem once alerted to it, the spokesman said he had "no further comment" to make.
But he stressed the board had not been "formally notified" of this review programme, when the BTSB wrote to the 45 hospitals in late September.
The board wrote to the hospitals in September to find 31 blood products potentially contaminated by HIV made from seven donors. There was no mention of HIV in these letters. Up to last week only 14 of the 45 hospitals had responded.