asked the Minister for Health if he has any proposals to set up a register of congenital abnormalities or other defects discovered in newly born infants in this country.

A number of registers of defects in newborn children are already in existence but these do not provide comprehensive cover for defects occurring in all infants. My Department have been engaged in consultations with a view to introducing a system of birth notification which will provide information on defects discovered at, or shortly after, birth in all cases. I hope that I can bring this in soon and when this system is in operation, it will make an important contribution to the information available about congenital defects in children.