Irish Blood Transfusion Service

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS), or Seirbhís Fuilaistriúcháin na hÉireann in Irish, was established in the Republic of Ireland as the Blood Transfusion Service Board (BTSB) by the Blood Transfusion Service Board (Establishment) Order, 1965, it took its current name in April 2000 by Statutory Instrument issued by the Minister for Heath and Children to whom it is responsible. The primary responsibly of the service is the provision of blood and blood products for humans.

The service is the successor to the National Blood Transfusion Association which was established in 1948 and was, itself, born from the work carried out by the St. John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland in setting up an 'on call' blood donor panel to serve hospitals in the Dublin area. In 1975 the Cork Blood Transfusion Service was amalgamated with the board, and in 1991 the Limerick Blood Transfusion Service was amalgamated with the board.

The symbol of the service is a stylised pelican, and for most of its existence the headquarters of the service was located at Pelican House, Mespil Road, Dublin. In 2000 the service relocated to the National Blood Centre on the grounds of St. James's Hospital near Dublin Heuston railway station, on which it remains. The service maintains regional facilities at Ardee, Carlow, Cork, Limerick and Tuam.

Controversy
Between 1977 and 1994 a number of people were infected with Hepatitis C unknowingly, and clear evidence on this did not become available until the mid 1990s. Most of the people who received this blood were women and it resulted in a major scandal within the Republic of Ireland. The Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation Tribunal was established by the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act, 1997, and amended by the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Act, 2002, to compensate people who contracted Hepatitis C or HIV as a result of receiving blood or blood products from the service; the tribunal had carried on the work of the non-statutory scheme tribunal established in December 1995 which heard its first case in March 1996. In its most recent annual report (2003) the tribunal indicated it has cost €533,669,055 (of which €63,840,433 is legal costs) to December 31, 2003 and a total of 2,678 claims have been made to the same date.

The Hepatitis C issue resulted in the service being accused of ethical and professional mismanagement, and was a low point in its history.

Restrictions on donations
The IBTS has highly restrictive donation rules, including banning anyone who spent more than 12 months in the United Kingdom between 1980 and 1996 due to a perceived risk of human variant CJD from beef products; and banning any male who has ever had sexual contact with another male, permanently. Despite this rule, the IBTS has used Irish band Westlife in promotional campaigns, even though one member of Westlife is openly gay and in a stable relationship - and hence unable to give blood.