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

I remember this well because I was one of the people who got the anti-D and was screened in the 1990s. It was a similar crisis to the one we have had with CervicalCheck. People were very scared. I was one of the lucky ones who got a negative result but some of my contemporaries got positive results and the prognosis was awful at the time. There was worry about contamination. Some people were infected in the late 1970s and would have subsequently had more children. They were worried about the children being infected, as well as partners and husbands. It was a crisis at the time. I remember it well because when something affects one personally one does not forget it. When one looked at others who were not as lucky and got a positive result to the test one could see the challenges they faced with fatigue and so forth. The changes as a result of the drug advances are incredibly important from that point of view because it is an awful infection if one does not have the ability to manage it. We have the drug and there are people in that position. Deputy O'Connell made the point that a person will have to be managed in a hospital if the infection is not managed. There is a quantum in that regard if permanent damage is done so one must consider it in terms of how efficient it is to manage this by way of not trying to row back on damage that is already done.

A few things jumped out from the opening statement by Mr. Breslin regarding the people who were infected through the infected blood in the 1970s and 1990s.

Obviously, the crisis resulted from infected anti-D serum being administered in transfusions. Haemophiliacs were a particularly badly affected group. The statement notes that some 1,700 people in Ireland were infected, but further on it states that the tribunal had been hearing claims continually since 1996 and made 3,569 awards. What is the reason for the different figures?