THE former Minister for Health, Mr Brendan Howlin, has rejected claims made to the hepatitis C Tribunal that he ignored advice from Department officials to set up a judicial inquiry when the contamination scandal broke in 1994. No such recommendation had been received from officials at the time, a spokesman for Mr Howlin said last night.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr James Nugent, told yesterday's hearing that the Minister's officials had pushed for a judicial inquiry. Instead, on March 4th, 1994, the Minister had set up an expert group headed by Dr Miriam Hederman O'Brien, to investigate the contamination of anti D immunoglobulin.
"From the very start, the officials in the Department, from assistant secretary down, advised the then Minister, Minister Howlin, that in these circumstances a tribunal of inquiry should have been set up", Mr Nugent said. "That, apparently, was not decided on. The expert group was established instead."
Mr Howlin, who is now Minister for the Environment, is expected to appear before the tribunal next week, as is the present Minister for Health, Mr Noonan.
Mr Howlin's recollection of events received corroboration last night from Dr Tim Collins, his special adviser, who had a prominent role in the discussions on the hepatitis C issue at the time.
A spokesman for Mr Howlin said that the Minister had already submitted a seven page statement to the tribunal and would be willing to appear before Mr Justice Finlay if called on to give evidence.
The spokesman said that Mr Howlin and his officials had held detailed discussions on the anti D problem once the Department had been informed of the contamination. All options, "including a tribunal or an expert group", had been considered.
"However, he was very clear that if the expert group on the hepatitis C could not get at the truth, or was inadequate, he had an open mind about a tribunal or some judicial process", the spokesman added.
Meanwhile, the Fianna Fail spokeswoman on health, Mrs Maire Geoghegan Quinn, who served in Cabinet with Mr Howlin, said that she only recalled him asking for Government approval for the expert group. There had been no mention of a tribunal.
As Minister, Mr Howlin had access to all the facts and was the person best able to judge which form of inquiry should be undertaken, she added.