Mary White (Fianna Fail)

The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Hanafin, read the theme of the Proclamation in a stateswomanlike and exemplary manner, quoting the phrase, "We cherish all the children of the nation equally".

At this time, representatives of the Irish Thalidomide Association are meeting with the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Mary Harney. I hope she has the vision and strength to compensate adequately for the negligence of our State. Some 10,000 people across the world were born with deformities arising from the use of thalidomide; in Ireland there are 32 survivors. I want to see the Minister send a spiritual signal, making an apology on behalf of our State and providing for financial compensation. I want to draw attention to a woman called Dr. Frances Kelsey, an inspector in the US Food and Drug Administration, who had the guts to refuse the pharmaceutical companies permission to have thalidomide on sale in that country. She said not enough research had been done on it.

There was a photograph in the Irish Independent yesterday of Mrs. Mary Cowen attending the Fianna Fáil commemoration at Arbour Hill. That newspaper's editors should make up their minds as to whether it is a serious newspaper or a tabloid. It attempted to portray Mrs. Mary Cowen in a derogatory manner.