Brendan Ryan (Labour)

We have established that 12,000 of the 15,000 were infected with a curable form of hepatitis C and are capable of being dealt with in a different way. Although I do not agree with the Tánaiste on much, I have great respect for her. With respect to her, it is a red herring to quote the 12,000 because we are not talking about that issue. The Tánaiste's virologist can tell her about longitudinal studies that have been done. He has publicly acknowledged that one study dates back to 1977. Follow-ups throughout the 25 years of the study found people who had initially tested positive but three years later tested negative on all tests. Similar and equally compelling tests have been done in parts of Germany, France and Italy and are available to the Department of Health and Children. These tests were peer-reviewed, published and not challenged, and they provide compelling evidence that a number of people who were infected in 1977 would not have tested positive for any of those three tests but would still be infected. We knew they were infected because the initial evidence showed that. Is the Tánaiste aware of this study?