Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the CervicalCheck audit. The facts of the Scally report are evident for all to see and accepted. My bona fides are very clear and understood by those directly affected. That is what is most important to me in that regard.

What I have said - it is a statement of medical fact - is that the infection of people by contaminated blood by the State is very different from what occurred owing to the limitations of screening, whereby, in some cases, there are false positives and false negatives. This is all documented clearly in the Scally report. One can bring in any medical expert one wants to confirm that there are false negatives and false positives. In some cases, however, there is negligence, but there is a very big difference between a false negative and negligence. The reason the tribunal has to be adjudicative rather than compensatory is somebody needs to establish and adjudicate on whether there has been negligence or a false negative. That is the role of the judge, supported by experts. In his report Mr. Justice Meenan outlines seven or eight reasons he believes this is a more compassionate or better approach than that of the courts system. He does not use these words, but I do. He arrived at his point after meeting many people, including Dr. Scally and patient representatives. It is not a perfect model, but I do not believe there is one because of the complexities involved. I will not pretend it is a perfect model because it is not, but it is a better one or certainly an alternative to court. I do not believe this is a replica of the hepatitis C issue or that the tribunal replicates the hepatitis C tribunal. It is not the same legally. The hepatitis C tribunal was compensatory, while this one is adjudicative. It has to establish whether there was negligence. The hepatitis C tribunal never had to do that; it just had to decide on how to compensate and look after those affected.