Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

We have a real problem with this. It is a fact that many Defence Forces personnel would refute strongly the Minister's assertion that there is individual screening. They have testified to the opposite, that they are not given appropriate warnings or assessed for mental health history and so forth. Even if they were, are the measures put in place to protect them, given that this could jeopardise their careers?

The Minister spoke earlier about weighing up risk assessments. In a parliamentary reply from 4 November, the Minister admitted that the Defence Forces have not carried out adequate risk assessments on this drug. He reinforced in the reply that Lariam is the first drug of choice in dealing with malaria for Irish personnel.

That is out of sync with other defence forces around the globe.

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