Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I have very limited time. Mr. McCallion says that the HSE will write out. That will involve 221 letters, or maybe fewer. That is how it reads. Can Mr. McCallion deal with this in the most efficient way to ensure that information gets out today to the people who need to get it in order to cut any necessary delay? I want his assurance that he will do that.

I will move on to the area of thalidomide. We have a letter from the Irish Thalidomide Association. It states: "Consequently, the SCA role in this Thalidomide litigation is to oppose the interests of the Thalidomide survivors in accordance with its charter to minimise costs, even presumably at the expense of the nation’s citizens, where a moral responsibility, at the very least, exists." That is from the letter. These are not people who have had a very short-term engagement with the State; this goes back some decades. I completely accept that the State Claims Agency has a remit to make sure that claims are valid, that we minimise costs and that we cut down on the cost of litigation. We certainly want to get open disclosure in order to get to that point. This connects with some of the stuff one would see on the 6 p.m. news. For example, one might see a family coming out, not necessarily in respect of thalidomide, but where there has been a catastrophic failure and a very serious birth defect as a consequence of it. People will say that this happened nine or ten years ago. There is no doubt but that the message invariably comes across that there has been a serious contest between the person involved and the State Claims Agency.

Such cases are generally taken on behalf of the person who has been damaged. What comes across is that there has been an ongoing battle. The point being made in the letter seems to be that this issue does not only apply to this group but reflects a culture in the State Claims Agency. I ask Mr. Breen to respond to that and to explain the remit of the State Claims Agency?