Former minister not permitted to correct his 1989 Dail statement

Former Minister for Health Dr Rory O'Hanlon, who told TDs in 1989 that Irish haemophiliacs had not contracted AIDS or HIV from Irish blood donations, will not be allowed to correct the Dail record, it has emerged.

Appearing before the Lindsay tribunal last month, he said it was "very regrettable" that he had not been told by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service that haemophiliacs had been given infected Factor 9 concentrate.

The Fianna Fail government's decision at the time to offer just £50,000 to infected haemophiliacs for counselling was based on this inaccurate information and led to the collapse of the administration, he said.

In a letter to the Ceann Comhairle, Mr Seamus Pattison, Dr O'Hanlon asked if it was appropriate for a TD to correct a Dail speech "while the tribunal is sitting" and before Ms Justice Lindsay had concluded her work.

Replying, Mr Pattison said it was never "envisaged" a Dail rule allowing TDs to make personal statements "would be applied in cases relating to proceedings of a Dail of some time past".

If allowed, it might give rise to an undesirable situation where explanations given years later might cause further problems, especially if the person seeking the right to make a statement was no longer a TD.

"In the circumstances, it would be more appropriate to await the report of the tribunal to the Dail when the issues you raise can be dealt with in the ensuing debate," Mr Pattison wrote.