A member of the Western Health Board has questioned its policy of housing people without screening them for infectious diseases.
At last night's meeting of the board in Merlyn Park Hospital, Galway, Mr John Flannery asked the board's chief executive officer, Dr Sheelah Ryan, what health screening process was in place for people who had been housed in places such as Cong and Connemara.
"I ask because I have concerns that a lot of those coming in from listed countries have a high percentage that have proven positive for HIV and stuff like that," said Mr Flannery.
Dr Ryan said she understood the question carried an oblique reference to refugees. "If you are referring to asylum-seekers, I can assure you we have no concerns about our public health services in this regard. We never discuss the health of individual groups, but I can say that nothing has happened within the refugee population that isn't happening in Ire land down to an individual level."
Dr Ryan said infectious diseases and other fears regarding asylum-seekers were subjects of talk, but they were posing no risk to the Western Health Board. She criticised Mr Flannery for the manner in which he raised the matter. "If you wanted to ask the question properly, I would not have had any problem addressing it for you. The fact is, I have no difficulty about public health under this board."
Mr Flannery, a Mayo county councillor, was temporarily expelled from Fine Gael last year for suggesting that Travellers be tagged to enable authorities to monitor their movements.