Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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1501.To ask the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth to provide compensation for thalidomide survivors (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35556/24]

Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Acknowledged Irish thalidomide survivors receive payments from both the Irish Government and the German Contergan Foundation.

The German Contergan Foundation has confirmed that since 2013, it is accepting applications from individuals for compensation for thalidomide related injury.

The Minister would encourage any Irish person who believes their injuries to be thalidomide related to apply to the Contergan Foundation for assessment of their disability as being attributable to thalidomide. The HSE National Thalidomide Advocacy office will support Irish people through this process.

Thalidomide survivors can register for supports by contacting The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth who will the put them in contact with the HSE National Thalidomide Advocacy office.

Where the Contergan Foundation has established that injuries are attributable to thalidomide, the Irish State will offer appropriate supports commensurate with those currently provided to Irish thalidomide survivors.

The Department of Health provides administrative support (translation of documents and forwarding of documents through the Irish Embassy in Berlin) to a person who applies to the Foundation.

The application to the Contergan Foundation is followed by clinical assessment.

If an expert outside of the foundation was retained to determine if injuries are attributable to thalidomide, those injuries would still need to be assessed using the Contergan Foundation points scale, to determine the level of monthly payments appropriate for those injuries etc. This ensures that survivors are treated equally throughout the world and in Ireland. If a person was found to have a thalidomide injury as a result of a determination by an expert outside the Foundation, it is unclear as to whether the Contergan Foundation would accept that process for inclusion in their scheme.

Acknowledged thalidomide survivors can avail of a number of supports including;

Health and Social Care Supports

• Medical Card
• Annual Assessments
• Access to allied health professionals
• Access to international centres of excellence when expertise not available nationally
• Prophylactic MRI
• Unlimited access to exercise and hydrotherapy facilities

• Personal Assistant/Home Support/Nursing Hours

• Aids and Appliances

• Car adaptations

• Housing Adaptations

• Customised Clothing

• IT and AI solutions

• Free Travel Pass

Financial Supports**

State Supports

• Lifelong monthly payments since 1974/5 (based on Contergan scale)

• Once-off lump sum 1974/5 (4 x German lump sum)

• Once-off lump sum 2010/2013

Contergan Foundation***

• Lifelong monthly payments since 1970s (scaled to severity/damage level)

• Special Payments & Specific Needs Payments

• Once-off lump sum 1970s

** exempt from tax and not assessable as means for the purpose of Department of Social Protection payments

*** From 1st August 2013 onward, under German legislation, any financial payments made by other governments to thalidomide survivors are off-set from German payments.