A charity set up less than three years ago has managed to bring 'telemedicine' facilities to 42 hospitals North and South.
The brainchild of the Ireland Children for Children and Adult Care Foundation has enabled doctors and nurses in Irish hospitals and experts in hospitals overseas to link up,.
It has brought 'telemedicine' to every hospital in Ireland with a paediatric unit, and it was announced yesterday that agreement has been reached with the Health Service Executive to bring it to every adult public hospital in the State which doesn't have such technology at present.
The news was delivered at a function in Dublin Castle where the chairman of the charity, former taoiseach Albert Reynolds, was honoured for his work with the foundation.
The function was attended by several ambassadors, including US ambassador James Kenny. Also in attendance were Minister for Finance Brian Cowen and beef baron Larry Goodman.
Messages of congratulations for his tremendous work on behalf of sick children were sent by President Mary McAleese and the Church of Ireland primate, Archbishop Robin Eames.
Tributes were also paid to Mr Reynolds's wife, Kathleen, who has served as president of the charity. Mr Cowen said Mr Reynolds's common sense approach and ability to overcome obstacles meant 'telemedicine' had been installed quickly in many hospitals.
The foundation was established after a woman, who does not wish to be identified, was moved by the story of a 13-year-old Co Clare girl who died of leukaemia in 1999. Caroline O'Keeffe from Kilnamona, Ennis, had been treated at a hospital in the west, but the woman felt the doctors there should have been able to link up with experts in children's hospitals in Dublin.
She approached Mr Reynolds with a letter from Marie O'Keeffe, the dead girl's sister, outlining what had happened to Caroline, and he was so taken by the idea of improving links between children's hospitals he agreed to lend his name to the charity.
Since then large amounts have been raised by volunteers to fund 'telemedicine' installations in individual hospitals. It allows Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin, for example, to link up with St Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, a world leader in the treatment and management of cancers in children.
Within a few months, the equipment was instrumental in saving the lives of two children, said the charity.