Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have a lot of time for the Tánaiste but I am very disappointed with his response, which is indicative of the reason we are in this mess. I state that because what he has given me is Civil Service speak. The working group on Lariam actually recommended that a medical advisory group be set up to look into these issues. That was in 2017. I recently found out from a freedom of information, FOI, request that the group has never met, not once. Best medical practise would tell us that other defence forces are not using Lariam. The Tánaiste's answer is, therefore, patently wrong.

The Tánaiste did not deal with all of the fundamental questions I put to him. The State's denial has led to a continued over-reliance on litigation and failure to address the serious concerns of those people whose health has been impacted by State actions. The Government is causing those people enormous hardship while enriching the legal profession and failing to make our health service safe. The type of answer the Tánaiste gave me is the same reason we do not have a mandatory open disclosure policy that would make our hospitals safer. He is listening to civil servants and not his instincts. The Government is not addressing the issues it has stated it will address. It is incredibly disappointing and citizens deserve much more.

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