Newborn Screening

All babies born in Ireland are screened for eleven medical conditions as listed below soon after birth. This is often called the ‘Heel Prick Test’. New-born screening for Phenylketonuria(PKU) started in Ireland in 1966. Ireland was one of the first countries in the world to have a national screening programme. Since then other conditions have been added, including Cystic Fibrosis in 2011. Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Severe Immune Deficiency were the most recently added conditions in Spring 2026.
The conditions currently included on the programme are:
Phenylketonuria (PKU)
Homocystinuria
Maple Syrup Urine Disease
Classical Galactosaemia
Cystic Fibrosis
Congenital Hypothyroidism
Medium Chain Acyl CoA Dehydrogenase Deficiency (MCADD)
Glutaric Aciduria Type 1
Adenosine Deaminase Deficiency – Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (ADA-SCID) – 2022
Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) – 2026
Severe Combined Immune Deficiency (SCID) – 2026
The New-born Bloodspot Screening Test is done between 72 hours and 120 hours after baby is born depending on feed type and need for admission to the baby unit after birth. The public health nurse or midwife will prick baby’s heel using a special device to collect some drops of blood onto a special card. It is very important to contact the public health nurse if an expected new-born screening test does not occur. This card is sent to the metabolic lab in CHI Temple Street. Parents will only be contacted if there is a concern regarding any of the conditions on the screening test. If there is an indicator that there may be a potential positive result, clear instructions will be given to parents for follow up.