THE Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, will today brief his Cabinet colleagues on the situation regarding the 3-in-1 vaccine.
He will also report on progress in the examination of the Bridget McCole file which, prior to taking office, the Government promised to release in order to throw light on how the legal strategy was arrived at in her hepatitis C damages case.
Mr Cowen was urged yesterday to make a full Dail statement this week on reports that many more children than previously thought were damaged by the 3-in-1 vaccine.
Ms Liz McManus TD, of Democratic Left, said the Minister should particularly address the suggestions that trials of the vaccine had been carried out on orphans, including a number with physical and mental disabilities.
Meanwhile, the Adopted and Fostered Persons' Association of Ireland has called on the Minister to force companies involved in the drug trials in the State orphanages to release any relevant information.
"We also call on the Minister to ensure that all files under his control either directly or indirectly or within his powers of procurement are released. Those affected should be contacted and informed they were the subject of experimentation," said the statement.
Ms McManus said the priority must be to establish the full extent of adverse reactions to the 3-in-1 vaccine. The new information available would appear to back up suspicions among parents that many more children had been damaged by the vaccine than has been admitted to date. The full facts must now be established and made available.
She said that it almost defied belief that "helpless babies should have been used as guinea pigs in this way".
The issue of compensation for those who may have suffered brain damage as a result of this vaccine has never been adequately dealt with, she said, and should now be addressed.
The Southern Health Board is carrying out an investigation into whether any children in its care were used for drug experimentation, including the 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 vaccines. The issue was raised at the board's meeting yesterday by Cllr Con O'Leary who asked that a full report be made on the board's relationship with any drug companies now or in the past in relation to drug trials, especially on children in the board's care.
Community Care officer, Mr Pat Madden, said initial research had indicated it had no involvement with any such testing and it intended to investigate the matter fully.