Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

A decision was taken by Government to indemnify the suppliers because that was the only basis on which the vaccine would be available in the country. As I stated earlier, similar arrangements were put in place in other European countries. There was an urgency in regard to making the vaccine available and the only basis on which it could be made available was if the State indemnified it. That is the basis on which the decision was taken.

As stated by Deputy Neville, the parents of those affected have formed a group called SOUND, which is actively engaged with the HSE and has two representatives on the HSE serious incident alert group, which is managing this issue. The group is involved in identifying the needs of the children affected and how those needs can best be met from a health and educational point of view. That work is well under way.

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