IMO conference: The sister of a 29-year-old Kerry man, who is being denied a lung transplant which he urgently requires, broke down yesterday when she met the Minister for Health to beg him to intervene.
Ms Lisa Burke was in tears in Killarney as she handed Mr Martin a letter from her brother, Billy, a cystic fibrosis sufferer, who says he will die if nothing is done soon to ensure he is put back on a waiting list for an Irish lung donation.
Mr Burke, from Killorglin, was taken off the waiting list by a hospital in Newcastle in Britain last year when it felt he was no longer suitable for a transplant. He was devastated and sought a second opinion from a hospital in Manchester.
After two weeks of tests, that hospital said he was suitable for a transplant but it would only operate if the lungs provided for him came from the Irish donor pool. However, that pool is controlled by the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, under an exclusive arrangement with the Irish State, and it says it will not supply lungs for the operation.
Mr Burke claimed in his letter to the Minister that Newcastle was acting "recklessly". He said if Newcastle was not willing to treat all suitable Irish patients, it should not get first call on Irish donor lungs.
Mr Martin told the Burkes that everything would be done to facilitate a transplant.
Officials from his Department met clinicians from the Newcastle hospital in Dublin yesterday. However, it did not reach any decision to change the agreement now in place.
"The agreement has been beneficial to many patients who needed lung transplants in Ireland since it was signed in 1999. There's been an attempt to undermine the agreement. It has been good for a lot of people. So one can't just go at it unilaterally and tear down the edifice," Mr Martin said.
"That said, I think Billy Burke has raised issues around the agreement and also I think he has himself shown a tremendous natural zest for life and obviously what he wants is a transplant. Everything that can be done will be done to try and facilitate that."
The Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland, which is backing Mr Burke's plea for a transplant, said he was not the only patient badly affected by the State's exclusive agreement with Newcastle. Another patient, who had been in a similar predicament, died recently.
It also emerged last night that Mr Martin wrote to the British Health Secretary, Dr John Reid, last month and asked that Mr Burke be given priority.
Dr Reid replied that he appreciated the seriousness of Mr Burke's medical condition but could not intervene. "It would be contrary to the organ allocation rules to make him a priority case. To do so could seriously jeopardise public confidence in an ethically run transplant service," he said.
Anne Lucey adds: A rally in support of Mr Burke will be held in Killorglin on Monday. It will proceed through the town square and end at St James's Church, where there will be prayers and songs of praise.