asked the Minister for Health if he has satisfied himself regarding the attempts to combat AIDS in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on his campaign's achievements or otherwise to date.

The measures taken to combat the spread of AIDS in Ireland can be summarised as follows: epidemiological monitoring of the infection; screening of blood and blood products; training for health care staff and the provision of relevant information to these staff; public information programmes, employing television, radio and printed media; expansion of the sexually transmitted diseases services; funding of voluntary agencies working in the area of AIDS; provision of education about AIDS in schools; and expansion of services for IV drug abusers with particular emphasis on one-to-one contact and counselling through "Outreach".

My Department has been monitoring the spread of HIV infection and the specific measures outlined above have been implemented to take account of the specific epidemiology of AIDS in Ireland where spread through IV drug abuse is significant.

I am satisfied that the necessary available measures have been taken in Ireland. Surveys carried out idicate a high level of knowledge among the public about AIDS. Four hundred and fifty thousand pounds of lottery funds have been spent on special AIDS projects this year. This money has allowed a considerable expansion of the services available for HIV infected people. New STD clinics have been opened. Additional counselling services have been provided. The services of voluntary agencies have been expanded because of the grants of lottery money.

A new Outreach service developed to enable one-to-one contact to be made with IV drug abusers is now being operated by the Eastern Health Board. Officials of my Department attend a number of international fora including WHO, EC and Council of Europe groups to participate in and to keep abreast of developments in the monitoring, treatment or prevention of AIDS which are emerging internationally and which could be adopted here. While we can never say that we are satisfied that enough has been done either nationally or internationally to stop the spread of AIDS, I am satisfied that we have made very real progress, particularly in the last year, in developing our AIDS treatment and prevention strategies.