Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome Finola Cassidy to the Visitors Gallery. She is very welcome. I know she is an amazing champion. I commend the Senator on raising this issue. I welcome the Minister. The Senator has four minutes to set out his Commencement matter.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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Go raibh maith agat, Acting Chairperson. I fully agree with your sentiments in welcoming Finola to the Public Gallery. Finola is the spokesperson for the Irish Thalidomide Association and it is fitting and appropriate that she should be in the House today to hear the response from the Minister. Two weeks ago tomorrow in Dáil Éireann, the Lower House, the Taoiseach responded to a question from Deputy Bacik based on the "Scannal" documentary which had been broadcast the night before. It laid bare the facts of the effect that the thalidomide drug has had on people in this country.

There are four women who are in their 90s and who have survived. They took the drug through no fault of their own. The drug was removed from the market 61 years ago next month. Even though it had been removed internationally, it was not removed in a timely manner in Ireland. There are four issues here that need to be responded to. First, it needs to be acknowledged by the Government that it did not act in a timely manner in terms of removing the drug and the consequences thereafter were as a result of this delay. Once the knowledge was available, the drug should have been removed instantaneously, as happened in other countries.That should have been removed instantaneously as was the case in other countries. The second thing that needs to happen is that there needs to be a State apology delivered by the Taoiseach in Dáil Éireann, similar to other apologies that have happened in the context of other victims who were let down by the State. The third thing that needs to happen is negotiations need to happen immediately with the survivors to put in place an appropriate healthcare package that will deal with their needs going forward. There are just under 30 people who the State acknowledge have been damaged long term and permanently as a result of their mothers taking this drug. The fourth thing that needs to happen relates to the approximately 12 people internationally who have had an expert opinion that they have been affected as a result of this drug, and that needs to be acknowledged by the State. That would bring the number up to 40.

There are four asks, and they are clear. The first one is an acknowledgment in the first instance. The second is an apology, which everybody across the political divide appreciates needs to happen. The third is the compensation package in terms of healthcare supports and appropriate compensation needs and again, this is accepted across the political divide. The fourth relates to the remaining women who have not had an acknowledgement from the State that this drug has caused them the problems they have, even though irrefutable international evidence from renowned experts supports their case and indicates that this has happened. They are very simple asks. Court cases have been ongoing for the bones of a decade and they should not be ongoing. Quite frankly, the cost of these ongoing court cases would more than fund the care package that is required and the compensation that is needed.

The Taoiseach spoke in the Dáil almost two weeks ago. He gave a commitment that he would be back in touch with Finola Cassidy within two weeks. That two weeks will be up tomorrow, so this Commencement matter is timely. In the first instance, it reminds the Taoiseach of his commitment. I know that he is an honourable person and that he will follow up on it. It also reminds the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, and the Department that this scandal has been ongoing for a decade and that it needs to be resolved. Next month will be 61 years since this drug was removed from the shelves of Irish pharmacists and yet the consequences are still ongoing. The people have not been compensated. The people have not had an acknowledgement or an apology. I await the Minister of State’s response.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Senator, who made a crystal-clear ask. The Minister of State has four minutes to respond.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I want to thank Senator Conway at the outset and indeed many others for raising important matter and for providing me with an opportunity to speak about it in the House. I am sure that the Senator will appreciate that because a number of cases concerning thalidomide are before the High Court, it is not possible to comment on matters that are sub judice. However, the Government recognises that thalidomide survivors face very real challenges in everyday life in the context of their injuries.

I am glad to inform the House that the Minister met with members of the Irish Thalidomide Association in February. At that meeting, he listened to their health concerns and assured them of the Government's commitment to provide thalidomide survivors with the necessary health supports to meet their related needs. The HSE has designated a senior manager to liaise with Irish thalidomide survivors and assist them in accessing health and personal social services. Following the meeting with the association, the HSE thalidomide liaison commenced a process to develop recommendations for future planning and pathways for survivors’ healthcare needs now and into the future.

The recommendations will also inform the work that is already under way in the Department of Health to place the provision of these health and personal social supports on a statutory footing, as committed to by the Government.Since 1975, the Government has provided financial assistance to each Irish thalidomide survivor, including an ex gratialump sum and an ex gratiamonthly allowance for life. The annual figure for the Irish monthly payments ranges from €6,175 to €13,313 for each individual. As the Senator said, there are currently 29 Irish people in receipt of these supports from the Department of Health. Irish survivors are also eligible for monthly payments and a range of annual special payments from the Contergan Foundation, which is established under German legislation. Both the German payments and the Irish ex gratiamonthly payments made to survivors are exempt from tax, including deposit interest retention tax, and are not assessable as means for the purpose of Department of Social Protection payments. Each survivor is also eligible for a medical card on an administrative basis regardless of means. In addition, survivors are eligible for aids and appliances, equipment, housing adaptations and access to the full range of primary care and hospital and personal social services.

It is also important to note that the German Contergan Foundation has confirmed that since 2013, it is accepting applications from individuals for compensation for thalidomide-related injury. It is open to any Irish person to apply to the foundation for assessment of his or her disability as being attributable to thalidomide. Any Irish person who establishes that his or her injury is attributable to thalidomide will be offered appropriate supports by the Irish Government, commensurate with those currently provided to Irish thalidomide survivors. I assure the House that the Irish Government is committed to the continued support of the health and personal social service needs of Irish thalidomide survivors to enable them to live independent lives.

The Senator mentioned four issues, one of which was that the drug was not removed in a timely manner and the Government should have acted at that time. The Senator has called for a State apology in the Dáil. He also stressed the need for negotiations with survivors to ensure an appropriate healthcare package to continue. He also said that 12 further people have received expert opinions that they have also been affected by thalidomide. He asked for them to be included in the State's response to bring the number of cases that require acknowledgment to 40. I will bring those details to the Minister and will try to get the Senator a response as quickly as possible.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
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I know the Minister of State is going to meet Ms Finola Cassidy after this Commencement matter. I appreciate that and thank him for doing so. I also thank him for his reply. There is no time here. Six of the women who took this drug are in their 90s. These people, sadly, do not have an enormous amount of time left.

I know what is involved in organising a State apology. It needs to happen soon. There needs to be an acknowledgement that the State was wrong and acted in an inappropriate way by not removing the drug. Those things both need to happen quickly.

In respect of compensation, while I accept what the Minister of State has outlined in his reply, an awful lot more needs to be done. These people's lives have been impacted, and very seriously in some cases. They have not been adequately compensated at all. Their medical needs are not being dealt with in the way they ought to be. We need to urgently resolve the situation of the 12 people in this country who are suffering and are not being recognised by the State.

As time goes on, people's lives move forward. We are dealing with elderly people. We are dealing with 40 people who are struggling on a daily basis because of thalidomide. I ask the Minister of State to make a call to the Taoiseach's office to remind him and his officials of the commitment he made in the Dáil two week ago. The timeline outlined then expires tomorrow. I have no doubt but that the Taoiseach will want to honour his commitment. When the Minister of State goes to his office this evening, he might make that call.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Senator for raising this important matter. I have heard the debates on this issue in the Houses in recent years. As I said, it is, unfortunately, not possible to comment on matters that are sub judice. I reiterate the Government's commitment to continuing to provide the range of supports, including monthly payments, health and personal social services, to thalidomide survivors. We want to continue to provide for the complex and unique health and social service needs of survivors to enable them to live with dignity, particularly as some of them are more than 90 years old.I am confident the process underway to develop recommendations for pathways of care for survivors' current and future healthcare needs will greatly enhance the provision of these services. I also look forward to the development of statutory proposals, which will be informed by this process and will place the provision of these supports and services on a firm statutory footing. I will notify the Taoiseach and his office about meeting with the group as soon as possible.