The number of children dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has reduced significantly over the past 12 years.
Provisional figures released by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, show that 27 children died last year compared to 101 in 1990.
There were, however, 10 infant deaths for the first three months of this year, the Minister told Mr Bernard Allen (FG, Cork South Central) in a written reply.
Some 46 children died in 2001 according to the figures and 51 died in 2000. However, tuberculosis is on the rise again, according to the latest figures.
Last year there were 17.1 cases per 100,000 of the population compared to 10.2 per 100,000 in 2001 and 9.6 the previous year. There were 378 cases reported in 2001, 395 in 2000 and 400 last year.
However, the 2002 incidence of TB was still well short of the incidence in 1990, when 604 cases were reported.