Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Next Tuesday representatives of the survivors of thalidomide will meet the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. I am optimistic that after 50 years of suffering by the survivors of thalidomide, the Government will provide adequate compensation in due time and a sincere apology on behalf of the State on foot of the negligence of the then Department of Health on the issue. Dr. John O'Connell, a former Minister for Health, published a book in 1989 entitled, Crusading Doctor and Politician. He devoted a chapter to the tragedy of thalidomide in which he outlined the negligence of the manufacturers. They gave a cursory notice of withdrawal of the drug in a circular and did not ensure it was withdrawn from pharmacies throughout the country. Dr. O'Connell stated that three years after the withdrawal of the thalidomide drug, he had been able to buy it across the counter in a pharmacy in Ireland without a prescription.

Yesterday Fianna Fáil Deputies and Senators met four representatives of the survivors' organisation. It was clear at the meeting that my colleagues were emotionally engaged on a serious level and determined to resolve the issue. The State has been grudging in its compensation in the last 50 years and I am hoping it will now step up to the mark. One of the survivors we met is only 3' 8" tall. Her mother had only taken two thalidomide tablets. Mr. John Stack's deformity affects his hands. His mother obtained the drug after the drug had been withdrawn. This is a very serious issue for the State, but I am hopeful the suffering will come to an end.

Ten thousand children were victims of thalidomide. Many of them died young and no one thought they would live to more than 50 years of age. As they are spirited and steel willed, they have survived and been able to work and have children. However, they have exerted such pressure on them that their limbs have aged beyond their years and they are in constant pain. I was speaking to one of them this morning and she told me she was dosing herself with solpadeine owing to the pain she was suffering after yesterday's traumatic and emotional experience.