M J Nolan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. Many people have been affected by contaminated blood, not only women, as many previous speakers indicated, but also men. This has had a catastrophic effect on the individuals concerned and their families and friends. While the Minister's proposals will not compensate them for the grief and suffering they have endured, it will go some way towards addressing some of the problems with which they must deal during their lifetime. There is no cure for this infection and the State must accept full responsibility for it and in some way compensate the victims.

The purpose of the Bill is to provide reasonable access to the insurance market for those infected by contaminated blood products who cannot obtain life or travel insurance and to provide that the Government will pay the balance where individuals are able to get some degree of insurance but the insurance companies have loaded their premiums. Insurance companies are not to blame for loading premiums in some cases as they are commercial entities for which the bottom line is the need to stay in business.

The Government is accepting its responsibility and I hope the House will pass the legislation. I am also pleased to note that the Minister will accept on Committee or Report Stage the inclusion of additional tests to determine eligibility for the scheme and that it will be possible, through ministerial regulation, to accommodate any new tests which become available in the future.

It is important to place on record the support provided to the individuals affected and their families by various support groups through professional counselling. I am aware at first hand of the impact this infection has had on the unfortunate individuals who have had to deal with this tragedy.

For many years, people infected with hepatitis C have made a reasonable case that a method of addressing the insurance difficulties they and their spouses have faced has not been accommodated. No particular solution to these difficulties was readily available. The Government, through this legislation, is introducing an internationally accepted system of tests used by many other countries in assessing eligibility for the various benefits available to those who have suffered infection. Many of the individuals infected by contaminated blood products find it almost impossible to obtain any type of insurance. The Government accepts its responsibility and is taking action in this regard.

In order to take a consistent approach, the Government agreed that a hepatitis C diagnosis should be defined in terms of a scientific test. A number years ago we had the scandal of the Army deafness cases when a redress scheme was abused. I would not like this episode, which I have raised in the House previously, to be repeated in any other case. While I am not implying that anyone will abuse the scheme proposed in the legislation, I observed how the legal profession abused a scheme established by the Government in a genuine attempt to help individuals who had suffered badly as a result of their membership of the Defence Forces. The scheme was hijacked by a number of solicitors' firms which trawled the country in search of former members of the Defence Forces. They then effectively told those people that they had a hearing disability and should apply for compensation under the scheme.

The Government, through this legislation, is trying to establish a fair system for diagnosis for individuals infected by hepatitis C and make their life a little easier. To ensure the support scheme is operated in a fair and equitable manner and those determining eligibility under the scheme use clear, consistent criteria, the Government has decided that the diagnosis will be determined by means of an internationally accepted test. The Minister of State, Deputy Seán Power, indicated that future Ministers will be able, by means of regulation, to introduce new tests as they are developed.

Since 1997, it has been clear that the inability of infected persons to obtain life insurance or mortgage protection cover has added further to the great damage they have already suffered. This was one of the issues raised by the consultative council on hepatitis C from its earliest meetings in March 1997. Determining an appropriate scheme for diagnosis is difficult and we must look to internationally accepted criteria to determine eligibility.

I hope the House will accept the Bill on the basis that it marks a further step in trying to make life a little easier for the unfortunate individuals infected by contaminated blood products and their families. This is not, however, the end of the process as the House will enact many more Bills and regulations to accommodate the needs of the families in question.

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