James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tim O'Malley, to the House. I had not intended to speak on the Bill, but in the light of the upset caused last week in the Longford-Westmeath constituency and further afield on foot of the remarks made by a local Deputy in the Dáil, I felt I had to support the valiant women who have fought hard and desperately, despite the illness and stress caused to them by the State's actions, to get the basic compensation and care to which they are entitled. It was unbelievable that their difficulties were further exacerbated by the extraordinary statement made by Deputy Peter Kelly, who cited some pseudo-medical knowledge to belittle the suffering of the women in question.

Since last Thursday, my clinics have been filled with women and men who have expressed their support for the victims of the State who are experiencing the serious effects of hepatitis C. The people in question have condemned the insensitive and damaging remarks of their local elected representative, Deputy Kelly. I have spoken to women from counties Longford and Westmeath who strongly empathise with the unfortunate victims who walked out of the Dáil in protest at Deputy Kelly's remarks last Thursday and are demanding an apology from him and action by his party.

I advise Deputy Kelly and other members of his party to bear in mind that the patients in question were infected with hepatitis C by the State's health service. They should recognise they are obliged to provide the best possible medical care and compensation to these women. It is to the Government's shame that the negotiations have been unduly confrontational to date, unfortunately. The fact that citizens of this State were medically, socially and psychologically damaged has often been forgotten or left out of the equation. It is to the everlasting shame of the Government and the health service that assumptions were initially made about how the victims were infected. Deputy Kelly's glib dismissal of the seriousness of their condition represents a regression to an ill-informed, witch doctor-like, prognosis.