Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government committed in the programme for Government to address the issues of thalidomide survivors in Ireland and to compensate them. Two years later, we are still waiting for it to do so. It is hoped the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, will be able to give survivors, the number of whom is reducing, some hope of their issues being addressed. While many people have been waiting since this Government took office two years ago for address of this issue, many others have been waiting the more than 50 years, since they were first affected, for it to be addressed.

The drug, introduced in 1959, was supposedly safe, non-toxic, had no side affects and was an effective treatment of morning sickness, nausea and sleeplessness. Later that year, questions around how unsafe it was first emerged and deformities in foetuses and infants were highlighted in many reports up to 1961, following which many states withdrew the product from Chemie Grünenthal. However, the Irish State did not move as quickly as others and failed to inform mothers of the horrific consequences of their taking thalidomide, including deformed limbs, malformation of the heart, bowel, uterus and gall bladder, shortened life spans, deafness, weakened facial muscles and a range of other health problems.

In 1975, the then Minister for Health, Mr. Brendan Corish, convinced thalidomide victims, many of whom it was believed would not survive beyond their teenage years, to agree a lump sum. However, there are now a number of survivors whose needs we need as a society to address into the future, in particular their medical needs as they grow older.

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