An internal memo issued by Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin to consultants last Friday reveals that the hospital is in the process of installing new washing and disinfecting equipment for scopes in the theatre department endoscopy room.
The memo was obtained by RTÉ News.
In a response to a query last night, asking if any new cleaning equipment for colonoscopes need to be purchased, a statement last night from the hospital said "No".
The hospital memo says that the new washer/disinfector is due to be installed over the next three days, between today and Friday.
The endoscopy room will not be available for use for a week to make sure it is free from infection following the work.
Meanwhile, the families of 18 children at the centre of a contamination scare at the hospital are being supplied with testing kits to see if they are carrying a bug, which is resistant to common antibiotics.
The children were examined with a colonoscope that was contaminated with the bacteria between mid-May and the start of this month.
The hospital will determine if the children are carriers of the bacteria, and they will be monitored to see if any infection develops.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dr Colm Costigan, clinical director of the three Dublin children's hospitals, said the hospital would treat any child who developed infection with stronger antibiotics, as the bug produces an enzyme that inhibits common antibiotics.
Dr Costigan also said parents of 15 of the 18 children have been contacted, while efforts are continuing to contact the parents of the remaining three.
All the families are being sent a stool-testing kit to provide samples to the hospital for testing.
Dr Costigan said this is the first such incident to occur at the hospital.
He said colonoscopes are washed and sterilised after each use, and as a matter of routine are checked in detail every four to six weeks.
It was during one of these routine examinations on 6 July that a small crack was discovered in one instrument.
The presence of the bug was verified four days later.
It took a further ten days to identify the procedures in which the instrument had been used, and the hospital began to contact parents.
