The vaccine, which will protect children against pneumococcal meningitis, is extremely costly to produce and its introduction in Irish immunisation practice will cost over 15m, raising the cost of the entire Childhood Immunisation Programme to more than 30m.

The National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) is considering the economics of introducing the vaccine . . . which is already available in most European countries and is being introduced in the UK . . .but it is believed it will recommend its introduction when it reports to the Health Service Executive (HSE) later this year.

Pneumococcal is not a common strain of bacterial meningitis in this country: in 2004, the last year for which figures are available, 22 cases were reported. Of these, three patients died.

While there are some reservations within the medical establishment over the cost of the vaccine, there is support for its introduction.

"It is reasonable for people to say, 'I only have so much money to play with, where can I get the most bang for my buck?', " says Dr Darina O'Flanagan of the National Disease Surveillance Unit, "but if you're a parent of a child who gets pneumococcal meningitis, you'll say 'why have they got this in the UK and why don't we have it here?' Most developed countries are doing it, so I think it's a matter of when, not if."

According to the Meningitis Research Foundation, studies on the new vaccine have indicated that immunising children also has a positive effect on the incidence of pneumonia in elderly people.

"If it's going to have a knock-on effect in the community, then that's a very positive development, " says Maria Duffy, medical information officer with the foundation. "Cost would be a factor, but they won't look at cost in isolation. It won't be the deciding factor."

The vaccine would bring the total number of inoculations recommended for children under one year to 12. While a 100 per cent increase in the immunisation budget for just one vaccine might seem steep, supporters of the programme point out that, in an overall health budget of 12.5bn, it is a drop in the ocean.

"There is an issue between governments to agree a fair and reasonable price for the protection of the population, " says Dr Henry Finnegan, former president of the Irish Medical Organisation and current director of education for the Irish College of General Practitioners, "but the amount of money spent on prevention is very little. I still think this programme has real and tangible benefits for our population and for the most vulnerable members of our population."