The Health Information and Quality Authority has recommended adding the chickenpox vaccine to the routine childhood immunisation programme.
HIQA carried out a public consultation on the issue this year and a Health Technology Assessment.
The assessment, which was published this morning, concluded that a Varicella (chickenpox) vaccination would be highly effective and safe in preventing virus, including severe disease.
HIQA's Chief Scientist Dr Conor Teljeur said: "One-dose of the vaccine will reduce severe disease including hospitalisations and overall occurrences. Two doses have the potential to further reduce the number of cases and eliminate chickenpox.
"We found that vaccination against chickenpox is likely to represent a good use of healthcare resources. When societal costs, such as leave from paid work to care for sick children, are considered, we found that vaccination would be cost-saving.
"Adding the vaccine to the childhood immunisation schedule would cost between €13m and €28m over the first five years, depending on whether one or two doses are given."
The assessment has now been submitted as advice to the Minister for Health and the Health Service Executive to inform a decision regarding the inclusion of the chickenpox vaccine in the childhood immunisation programme.
Earlier this year, it was reported that there had been a significant increase in the number of hospitalisations due to complications with chickenpox.
In May, the HSE confirmed that 57 cases of hospitalised chickenpox had been recorded.
Three quarters of these were in children under the age of 15, while just over half were in children aged four and under.
This compares to just 15 hospitalised cases during the same period in 2022. It is also significantly higher than the number of cases pre-pandemic.
In a statement, the HSE said that with the unwinding of pandemic restrictions, there has been an upsurge in a wide range of infectious diseases, including chickenpox.
Chickenpox is a common, highly infectious disease mainly affecting children less than ten years old.
While most children are only unwell for a short period, chickenpox can result in serious complications.
Of the 58,000 cases of chickenpox every year in Ireland, approximately one in 250 cases will be hospitalised with associated complications.
Approximately one third of people who have had chickenpox will develop shingles at some point during their lifetime due to reactivation of the virus.
