Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming here today and for presenting to us. Notwithstanding the differences of opinion, I agree with my colleague who said that parents have a choice. It is incumbent on all of us as parents to ensure we are best informed before we make a choice. That is part of parenting. I do not blindly accept other people's opinions because opinions differ. Anyway, it is incumbent on all of us as parents to ensure that we are as educated as possible with regard to what we are providing for our children and to make informed decisions in this regard. Against this backdrop we need to recognise that with every vaccine there is a slight risk.

I am sorry if this is not the appropriate venue but I have written many times to the Department of Health and to the Minister about it. Reports were commissioned by previous Governments on the whooping cough vaccinations scores of years ago. I genuinely believe they are sitting on shelves. What genuine consideration has been given to the recommendations of the previous Oireachtas committees and the reports issued by previous Ministers with regard to setting up a no-fault compensation scheme for children who were damaged by vaccines? This does not relate to cases that might arise in ten years' time or perhaps next year. It relates to children who were genuinely damaged by previous vaccines. The responsibility on the State is to address this issue and it is nothing short of a disgrace that we have had children who were inflicted with this in an awful way in the 1970s and 1980s. It is now 2012 and we still have not addressed these issues. I would be grateful if the delegations could address these points.