Martin 'confident' of getting payments for haemophiliacs

The Minister for Health and Children has said he is confident he will be able to introduce legislation allowing for additional payments to be made to haemophiliacs infected with HIV before the Dáil rises for the general election.

Mr Martin said he was seeking a "quick conclusion" to the issue, which has been dragging on since 1999 when the Government promised such legislation after conceding a 1991 "no fault" settlement with infected haemophiliacs was not fair.

The Minister was speaking following a meeting yesterday with the Irish Haemophilia Society at Leinster House at which discussions were also held on the prospect of establishing an inquiry into the role of overseas pharmaceutical companies in the infection tragedy.

Mr Martin said he had given the IHS a copy of the legal advice he had received on the matter from Mr Paul Gardiner SC. He added he would be raising the issue with the Cabinet next week, and would hold further discussions with the IHS, before making a decision on whether or not to establish a new inquiry.

The IHS have been seeking such an inquiry since the chairwoman of the Lindsay tribunal ruled last July that she was not entitled to investigate the drugs firms.

Mr Rosemary Daly, administrator of the IHS, said it had not had time to study Mr Gardiner's report, which exceeds 100 pages and contains advice from US lawyers on the legal obstacles to an inquiry. "It is a very complex opinion dealing with issues of law in many jurisdictions. The Minister will discuss this at the next Cabinet meeting and following this we will meet with him again on this issue," she said.

Regarding the compensation issue, she said the Minister had given the IHS a document which encapsulated his views on the content of the proposed legislation. "We will consider this document and begin immediate discussions with the intent to have a Bill available to be presented to the Dáil during the current legislative session." Representatives from the Department and the IHS are to begin a series of meetings on the subject this morning.

"My determination is to do this before the election," Mr Martin stressed.