HOSPITALS and health boards, along with the Blood Transfusion Service Board, are still trying to trace 11 HIV-contaminated blood products issued before 1985.
The BTSB issued a second letter this week, which reached hospitals yesterday. Unlike the first letter, which tried to trace the blood, this one referred to the presence of the HIV virus, and urged recipients to redouble efforts.
The board urgently needs to provide answers for the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, who will face questions in the Dail on Tuesday about the fate of the 11 contaminated issues.
A spokesman for the BTSB said he could not say which hospitals and health boards had responded so far. He said the board would not be issuing information about them in a piecemeal fashion in advance of the Dail debate.
However, a spokeswoman for St James's Hospital told The Irish Times it had completed its search and had not found any of the products.
Earlier this week both the Eastern Health Board and the South Eastern Health Board also completed their searches, where they traced four of the products.
The task facing the hospitals, especially the larger ones, is enormous. For example, the Mater has been involved in an "extensive look-back" exercise since September, when it received the first letter from the BTSB.
So far it has not turned up any patient which matched the number cited by the BTSB, according to a spokesman, but the look-back is continuing.
This involves checking when the blood was issued, what patients were there at the time and whether the blood received was actually given out at all, he said.
St Vincent's Hospital also began its examination of its records when it received the first letter, and got a response from its pathology department in September.
"It is a very labour-intensive process," said a spokeswoman. "The hospital is looking at the best way of carrying out this review and is discussing it with other hospitals."