Hygiene standards in factories and pharmaceutical companies are much higher than in hospitals, Minister for Health Mary Harney told the Dáil.
She said the Government had a plan to minimise levels of MRSA infection, including the appointment of infection control staff, a publicity and education campaign for doctors and the public about infection and antibiotic resistance and a national helpline for complaints about poor infection control, such as staff not disinfecting their hands between patients. The plan also involves swabbing staff for MRSA infection. As for swabbing visitors, she said there was a need to review hygiene standards for people visiting hospitals.
She added: "The standards of hygiene that apply when one visits a food production or pharmaceutical company are substantially higher than those in hospitals.
"I visited a company recently in which one was obliged to cover one's hair, shoes and so on. We probably need to reconsider the standards that apply to those of us who visit hospitals particularly those who visit seriously-ill patients."
Fine Gael health spokesman Dr Liam Twomey had questioned the existence of a plan and said "Ireland has an epidemic of MRSA". He referred to comments by HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm to the Oireachtas Health Committee and asked the Minister to confirm that up to 40 per cent of staff who were being swabbed had MRSA or some variant of it.
He asked: "Is Prof Drumm wrong when he claims it can be spread by shaking hands?"
Ms Harney insisted that the main reason for the increased incidence of MRSA is the over-prescription of antibiotics.
"This has been shown worldwide and the countries that do best are those that have in place an active programme with general practitioners and patients in respect of this issue."
