Pregnant women will be "strongly encouraged" to have the swine flu vaccine when it becomes available in Ireland, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has said.
The announcement is a clarification of earlier statements from the HSE, which had said the vaccine would be administered to "everybody including pregnant women on the basis of informed consent".
There has been some controversy over the administration of the vaccine to pregnant women, with many people expressing concern about the fact it contains the mercury-based preservative thimerosal.
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The American Food and Drug Administration has said there is a "biologically plausible" link between the additive and neurodevelopmental disorders. A recent British survey found that more than half of expectant mothers intended to refuse the vaccination.
To combat these fears, American laboratories are producing a mercury-free version of the vaccine that will be directed towards pregnant women and young children. However, the HSE said on Thursday it will not be acquiring this thimerosal-free version and that it has no plans to do so.
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It said: "Pregnant women have a four-fold increased risk of being admitted to hospital if they contract swine flu. The pandemic H1N1 vaccine is currently being tested and we expect that the vaccine will be licensed by the European Medicines Agency in October.
"The HSE will be strongly encouraging pregnant women to avail of the vaccine."
Two of Dublin's three maternity hospitals said they would be recommending it to their patients, on the basis of HSE advice. The National maternity hospital said it had not yet formulated a policy as it is awaiting advice from the HSE.
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The health service is redeploying some 1,000 staff to administer the swine flu vaccine, with the launch expected to begin from mid-October at 60 centres. Some 7.7m doses have been ordered and 30,000 have been received to date.
More than 800 swine flu cases have been confirmed in Ireland, with 80% affecting people under 35. Two people have died. Experts predict that up to one in three workers may be infected with the virus as the winter approaches.