Does the Minister for Health support the provision of the chickenpox varicella vaccine for free to all children through the primary or schoolchild immunisation programme?

The immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC, which continues to revise its recommendations having regard to the prevalence of the relevant disease in Ireland and international best practice in immunisation. The varicella vaccine is not currently included as part of the primary childhood immunisation programme but NIAC has recommended that the vaccine be included in the programme. Vaccines administered through the primary childhood immunisation programme are provided free of charge. The Department of Health asked HIQA to carry out a health technology assessment, HTA, on the varicella zoster vaccine, which was published in July 2023. HIQA found that there is clear and consistent evidence that the chickenpox vaccine is both safe and effective in preventing chickenpox and its complications. It also found that adding the chickenpox vaccine to the programme is likely to be cost effective. The office of the chief medical officer is considering the HTA findings and will make a recommendation to the Minister for Health which will inform the decision on the inclusion of the chickenpox vaccine in the primary childhood immunisation programme.

At the moment, should a parent choose to get the chickenpox vaccine for their child, it will cost approximately €90. It is a prohibitive cost for many. Many make the leap to get it done not only to protect their child's health, but also because of considerations such as parents losing work time and so on. The HIQA recommendation is a game changer here. Just after the summer break, I got a reply to a parliamentary question in which I had asked whether the Department had calculated what it would cost to include the vaccine in the immunisation programme. The Department had not done such a calculation, but HIQA estimates this cost at between €13 million and €28 million. As the Minister of State said in her initial response, HIQA also said that this would be cost effective. It would be good to see some progress on this. I acknowledge that the Minister's stance on vaccines and their promotion is very strong and very good. I hope that we will see progress in this area. It would be beneficial for the children and for their parents in terms of ensuring they can stay in work.

Although varicella is typically a mild disease, there can be long-term skin scarring and serious complications requiring hospitalisation. Of the 58,000 cases of chickenpox that occur in Ireland every year, approximately one in every 250 will result in hospitalisation with the associated complications. The estimated effectiveness of one-dose and two-dose vaccination strategies was obtained from an overview of the reviews of the clinical effectiveness of the varicella vaccination. The HTA found that the introduction of one dose of the vaccine to the schedule would reduce severe disease, including hospitalisations, and overall occurrences. In addition, it was found that the introduction of two doses of the vaccine has the potential to further reduce the number of cases and eliminate chickenpox. I will certainly relay the Deputy's comments to the Minister, Deputy Donnelly. A decision will be made on this matter shortly.

I thank the Deputy. I will certainly relay that back to the Minister.

Is í an cheist dheireanach an chéad cheist eile, atá in ainm an Teachta Ó Cathasaigh.