Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton. I have had the opportunity to read through his response twice and he makes many valid points. We must tread carefully and have regard to advice and the need to avoid litigation. I understand the advice of the Attorney General has been sought as there comes a point when we have to take professional advice. When we are put on notice, it is important that we heed the advice given. This is a complex issue.

I thank the Minister of State for the manner in which he set out the concerns of the Minister and the Department. I acknowledge that I do not detect any effort to stall this process. I also acknowledge the work of Senator Mark Daly on the issue, about which he is very passionate, as is evident every time he speaks about it. In the past two weeks we have heard many women give testimony and speak about terrible ordeals in relation to the cervical cancer screening programme and about the huge resistance of and lack of support from State agencies in response to what had been done to them. There are women who remain in the dark about their health, as do their families. This Bill would be of no consolation to them. At the end of the day, it is important that people be held to account. Every day both in this House and the Dáil I hear politicians bellyache about the need for accountability. Subject to due process, we must hold people to account and sanction those found to have done wrong. It is important that there be due process, but there must also be justice, particularly for victims. We must support them by putting a system of redress in place. Words are meaningless, as are a slap on the wrist and people saying they are sorry. We are tired of this; we need justice, the provision of support and sanctions. Ultimately, we must never be afraid to put people behind bars if they knowingly set out to inflict damage and suffering on others.

Rather than go into any great detail on the Bill, I want to share with Members a letter from the Irish Haemophilia Society addressed and sent to all councils on 9 March 2017 which I will also place in the public domain later. It states:

The Irish Haemophilia Society support the addition to Irish law of a provision or law on corporate manslaughter. The experience of our small community and of other groups affected by contaminated blood scandals in Ireland provides an example of the type of situation where such a law may be applicable. In Ireland, 1,700 people were Infected with Hepatitis C through blood and blood products supplied by the state. Of these 1700, 240 were people with haemophilia with the others being recipients of Anti D, blood transfusions or treatment for renal disease. Of the 240 people with haemophilia infected with Hepatitis C, 105 were also co-infected with HIV. To date, 112 of these 240 people with haemophilia have died including, in several cases, brothers or more than one member of the same extended family. This appalling tragedy resulted in a catalogue of human misery and despair which has been ongoing for the past 32 years. The contamination of the blood supply was the subject of two separate Tribunals of Inquiry - the FinIay Tribunal and the Lindsay Tribunal in 1997 and 2001, respectively. Following the Lindsay Tribunal, the Irish Haemophilia Society has worked proactively with the Doctors and the Department of Health in ensuring that we have a formal voice in policy and other decisions on treatment of haemophilia through a statutory National Haemophilia Council and a formal role in the selection of safe and effective medications for treatment of haemophilia. At the end of 2016, we were able to announce the effective eradication of Hepatitis C in our community through access to new treatments.

I beg the Acting Chairman's indulgence for one more minute because it is important that I quote the letter as is. It continues:

Those who survive with HIV or Hepatitis C in our community have endured a long struggle. We will never forget those who have died as a result of contaminated blood but a fitting memorial to them would be a law on corporate manslaughter. We must learn from history if we are not to repeat it. The report of the Tribunals and in particular the Finley Tribunal, catalogue a series of deliberate actions or inactions which resulted in the infection and death of many people. Despite requests from the relevant patient organisations, neither report was forwarded for consideration to the Director of Public Prosecutions, nor did any successful criminal prosecution take place of any individual. We must learn from this and ensure that the public in future are protected from malfeasance or deliberate actions, inactions or omissions which result in the death of individuals.