Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister. We can only try to understand the level of suffering that 1,700 people and their family members have endured over the years as a result of receiving contaminated blood products. Nobody ever wants to see it happening again. I recognise that many steps have been taken to ensure it never happens again and that compensation and other measures have been put in place to minimise, in some way, the hurt and the damage. While we can never undo the damage we can at least strive to make the lives of these people as comfortable as possible and to ensure that insurance is available to them at a reasonable cost. It is the State's obligation to see to it that they can buy insurance and to help to pay the costs over and above those any of us would be expected to pay.

However, it is sad that four organisations, Positive Action, Transfusion Positive, the Irish Haemophilia Society and the Irish Kidney Association, are unhappy with the Bill as passed by the Dáil. Unless changes can be made in the Seanad they will continue to be unhappy. Having spent over nine years trying to reach agreement with those organisations it is a pity that people perceive they are not getting what they set out to get and that they are unhappy with the way it has been dealt with.

I do not know if the Minister can address the needs of those organisations at this late stage or if she can listen to what they have to say. The Minister's assertion that people will not be at a disadvantage following the implementation of this Bill sounds convincing but we, as Opposition Members of the Seanad, have to listen to what they say. They are unhappy and they have asked us to table amendments, which Senator Browne will do. We will try to address the concerns raised by those organisations, of which the Minister is well aware. I ask her to consider those amendments before Committee Stage.

We are talking about a very small sum of money. The total cost of this element of the compensation is €90 million over 30 years. How much more would it cost to deliver what the organisations are seeking and to meet their requests in full? That figure must be small, if the overall figure is €90 million. Has the Tánaiste calculated what that amount would be if we were to meet the concerns outlined by the four organisations? We should consider how money has been wasted on other projects. I am thinking particularly of the topical issue of e-voting machines, with regard to which the then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, referred to the amount involved as minuscule. Perhaps that amount could go towards meeting the full requests of the organisations.

We have put these people through enough suffering. They will perhaps suffer for the rest of their lives. If further illness caused by contaminated blood or blood products comes to light and we can ensure that compensation is available in all its forms, as outlined in all the Bills and Acts, that should be done. It is not right that we have put people through this but, as matters stand, they will go away unhappy. I am sad that we must deal with legislation which leaves people unhappy. Enough damage has been done by the State and we are all responsible. Let us make every effort to ensure that we do not leave bad feeling between the State and these people who have been so wronged.