Lindsay Tribunal report condemned in Dail

The report of the Lindsay Tribunal has been condemned by Opposition parties in the Dáil as a "grave disappointment" to the families of victims of the infected blood scandal.

Mr John Gormley of the Green Party accused the tribunal of attempting to pervert the course of justice over its failure to call certain witnesses and fully investigate the scandal.

He said the Flood report was greeted with enthusiasm for its clarity and conclusions, but report from Justice Alison Lindsay "regrettably does pull its punches" and is "wishy-washy".

"It does not get to the heart of the matter, it fails to apportion blame," he claimed, and left sufferers "gravely disappointed". "We must have the full truth and we must punish those who are guilty of these crimes."

Ms Liz McManus, the Labour party's deputy leader and spokeswoman on health, said the Minister for Health, Mr Martin should refer the matter "to the relevant authorities" if the investigation is not met with full co-operation from the IBTS.

She demanded that a senior counsel be appointed to investigate all documentation on international pharmaceutical companies held by the IBTS. Criminal proceedings should follow where necessary, she insisted.

"Dark secrets about Irish society have been opened up," she said. But the tribunal report was insufficient to achieve "closure" for those affected by the infected blood scandal, she added. She said the victims "need the full truth".

Ms McManus also criticised the Tribunal for its failure to investigate international pharmaceutical firms nd their role in causing most of the HIV and hepatitis C infections, and called on the Government set up a new inquiry.

Mr Dan Neville, Fine Gael TD for Limerick West, also told the Dáil there was anger and concern among haemophilia sufferers and their families at what they see as the failure of the tribunal chairman, Justice Alison Lindsay, to produce a clear report about what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening in the future.

"This was possibly the biggest medical catastrophe since the beginning of this State," he said. It is now "crucial" to the Irish Haemophilia Society that the Minister needs to follow through on the commitment to hold an inquiry into relevant international pharmaceutical companies who were "criminal in exposing haemophiliacs to this danger", he said.

Ms Mae Sexton, Progressive Democrats TD for Longford-Roscommon, said that on the scale of public scandals, the infection of haemophiliacs ranks "as the gravest".

It was a "State-sponsored catastrophe" that requires full disclosure by the blood board. "In order for full public confidence to be restored in the ITBS, it is vital that the highest standards now be upheld," she said, and called on the Minister for Health to ensure this is carried out.

She also called for possible criminal proceedings to be reviewed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Dublin South Central TD, Ms Mary Upton of Labour said it was "amazing" that no member of the BTBS board, as it was then, had been called to give evidence at the tribunal.

Judge Lindsay had said the board "was not without blame", so why were they not obliged to give evidence, she asked. As they were appointed to the board by the Minister for Health, why were they not required to accept responsibility for their actions.

"Who are these mysterious board members and why are they not being forced to answer questions?" she asked."The tribunal failed to establish how the system failed, with the result that 79 people died."

She also contrasted the clarity of the recent Flood Tribunal report with the Lindsay report, and expressed concern that the former was publicly available for €1, while the latter was ten times the price.