THE man who was head of the Blood Transfusion Service Board (BTSB) at the time women were infected by contaminated anti D was never interviewed by the expert group set up to examine the hepatitis C scandal.
As national director Dr John Patrick O'Riordan was responsible for the medical, scientific and administrative functions of the BTSB, from its inception in the 1960s until 1986.
Dr O'Riordan said he had not thought it "appropriate" to involve himself with the expert group, according to a report in the Irish Medical News.
"I do not wish to talk about the issue. I kept out of the expert group. I did not think it appropriate to be involved," he explained.
A woman who answered the phone at Dr O'Riordan's home yesterday said he was not available for comment.
The expert group had no power to compel people to attend for interview.
A spokesman for the BTSB said last night that Dr O'Riordan, now in his 80s, would have "set in place the structures and relationships which defined the BTSB" during the period he was in charge and brought a lot of his personal influence to bear.
Dr O'Riordan, he said, qualified as a medical practitioner in 1938 and would have been a world expert in the area of blood when he went to work for the BTSB.
The Fianna Fail spokeswoman on Health, Mrs Maire Geoghegan Quinn, said she asked the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, a parliamentary question in the Dail last week looking for details of the relevant individuals, who were either not interviewed by the expert group or were not available for interview.
"I asked the question as the Minister had finally recently admitted that the expert group did not see all the relevant documents and people. Minister Noonan informed me in his reply that the expert group carried out its work by meeting relevant individuals and groups and by requesting relevant documentation," Mrs Geoghegan Quinn said.
Dr O'Riordan, she said, was a most relevant person and the Minister should have disclosed in his reply that he was not interviewed.
"I will be asking the Minister to make a personal explanation to the Dail this week on this issue."
The Department of Health was still considering the issue last night.
The expert group report noted that Dr O'Riordan held both medical and administrative functions at the BTSB. He had "clear responsibility for all aspects of the BTSB's services, whereas this responsibility has, since 1986, been divided between two people".
Mrs Geoghegan Quinn also said she was "disturbed" that the BTSB had tried to pressurise the late Mrs Brigid McCole to waive the right of her family to take a legal action for damages after her death.
"I believe this was a despicable act and adds to the necessity for an inquiry into who was authorising the BTSB's legal strategy in the McCole ease", she said.
In an amendment to the judicial inquiry motion in the Dail last week she had asked that all the questions submitted by Mrs McCole's family be answered. One question asked for an investigation into the way the legal action was conducted and the justification for the threats issued.
"I understand that this attempt to get the family to waive their right was a major reason for this question," she said.
"The Minister's decision to oppose my amendment to have all questions answered continues to fuel the suspicion that even now, the cover up in relation to hepatitis C is ongoing."