Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise a number of issues, primarily in light of the decision that was made by the Taoiseach correctly to issue an apology to the families of the Stardust victims. In that context, one issue I have raised on a number of occasions in this Chamber is the lack of action by the Government and successive Governments with regard to the victims of thalidomide, who have been waiting a much longer time for real recognition by the State of the situation into which they were put.

Now, we have a situation where fewer than 40 survivors remain. More importantly than that, however, their parents, and particularly their mothers who took the drug, have for a long period felt enormous and unjustified, although understandable, guilt. Many of those mothers are now passing away. There is, therefore, a certain urgency to the Government taking action to apologise to those victims of the thalidomide drug. We should remember that at the time, the Irish Government did not withdraw it from the market in a timely fashion, which is why an apology is warranted. It is also a recognition that compensation is due to those people for their medical services because as they age, and they are in their 60s now, obviously, medical complications arise. In the spirit we saw in the Dáil this week, it is also important that we apply the same spirit to victims of inaction by the State with regard to the thalidomide drug.

There is a real myopia within the Department of Health on this issue because there is somehow a feeling that the State should never accept liability with regard to its fault. That is not the right approach to this. In fact, the State will spend more time fighting the legal cases over a prolonged period than it will by simply drawing a line under it and giving those families, mothers and survivors of thalidomide the justice to which they are entitled.