Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise again the issue of thalidomide survivors. The Minister of State, Deputy Rabbitte, who is present in the Chamber, Deputy Devlin, the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, Senator McGreehan and I have raised this issue persistently for a number of years. I turned on my TV on Tuesday night, as I told the Tánaiste last night, to see the Australian Prime Minister had given an apology to all of the people affected by the thalidomide controversy. In the UK, an apology was offered in 2010. The one thing I took from the news bulletin on Tuesday night was the number of people who turned up with framed picture of deceased loved ones and family members. I pray we will not find ourselves in that situation. I would like to see the people who are still here campaigning on this to get the State apology they deserve. There was a UK apology in 2010 and an Australian apology in 2023. When will Irish thalidomide survivors get their apology?

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