The possibility of obtaining blood products from Scotland which would not have transmitted hepatitis C to haemophiliacs arose in late 1986 but was not followed up by the Blood Transfusion Service Board, the tribunal heard.
The board's former chief executive officer, Mr Ted Keyes, said it had wished to comply with Government policy on self-sufficiency, which meant blood products used in the State should be made from Irish plasma alone. He said if plasma was sent to Scotland to be made into clotting agents for haemophiliacs, it would go into large pools, and the products which came back wouldn't be made from Irish plasma alone.
However, replying to Mr John Finlay SC, for the tribunal, he admitted the difference between Irish and Scottish plasma, which had been collected from voluntary donors and tested for HIV, was "probably none".
Counsel said the advantage of the Scottish products was they would have been inactivated for viruses by a method known as super-heat treatment, which was known to eliminate the risk of hepatitis C.
Mr Keyes said the BTSB was aware of this method, as a similar form of heat treatment was used at a plant in London, representatives of which visited Pelican House and told them about it in October 1986. However, he had not seen the effectiveness of the method documented.
The tribunal heard the blood bank entered instead into a contract with the Armour Pharmaceutical company to make clotting agents from Irish plasma, using a lesser form of heat-treatment, in West Germany.
Counsel asked if the form of heat-treatment used wasn't considered a problem, in that it wouldn't eliminate the risk of hepatitis C. Mr Keyes said he felt sure Prof Ian Temperley, former director of the National Haemophilia Treatment Centre, must have approved it.
A report prepared for the BTSB in April 1987 was opened to the tribunal and showed Scotland was able to produce factor 8 and 9 clotting agents to a standard acceptable in the Republic. Mr Keyes conceded that had been an option but it was not followed up.