Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister. This is a very sensitive issue which I find great difficulty in debating. If any heroes emerge from the affair, it is the Irish Haemophilia Society for its trojan work and endeavours. The group deserves to be commended and I appreciate the Minister's decision to allocate €300,000 to it last week. Is it, however, enough? Although I accept the IHS is an ad hoc group, has provision been made to mainstream it?

We have all encountered people who were affected by this issue, no more so than in County Donegal. Mrs. Brigid McCole, who passed away in October 1996 at 54 years of age, was such a person. I will not dwell on the details of her case, except to highlight the letter she received from the Blood Transfusion Services Board 12 days before she died in which it was stated that while the BTSB accepted responsibility for her condition, Mrs. McCole would face legal bills if she failed to win her legal case.

Mistakes have been, but today we are not in the business of apportioning blame. While I welcome the Minister's public apology on behalf of the Government as an important step, did we go far enough, particularly with regard to the terms of reference of the Lindsay tribunal?

Senator Terry referred to culpability. As the Irish Haemophilia Society has pointed out, we are nowhere near identifying who is culpable. Like Senator Maurice Hayes and Senator Ryan, I welcome the decision to forward the report to the DPP. I also welcome the initiatives and controls to be introduced in the Department for Health and Children to prevent a future tragedy. The kernel of the problem, however, is that we must consider the feelings of the people who are enduring pain today. This is where the Lindsay tribunal did not go far enough. Not alone should the report be given to the DPP, but the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should also be involved in the matter. The 79 people who were murdered, albeit inadvertently, have relatives who have to live with this for the rest of their lives yet, according to the report, nobody is culpable.