The Government acknowledged in the strongest terms that the infection of people with contaminated blood products was catastrophic for them and their families, Minister for Health Mary Harney told the Dáil.
Representatives of the support groups walked out of the public gallery during the contribution of a Government backbencher.
Ms Harney said that "no monetary support or compensation can repair the damage done. Ireland is doing more for victims compared with other countries in similar circumstances." She was introducing the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Bill 2006, which was sharply criticised by the Opposition.
The Bill establishes a statutory scheme to address insurance difficulties experienced by people infected through bad blood products administered by the State.
A number of Government backbenchers indicated during last night's second stage debate that the Bill might be amended during committee and report stages today.
The walkout by representatives of the support groups from the public gallery took place during a contribution from Peter Kelly (FF, Longford-Roscommon). Mr Kelly said millions of people all over the world had the disease and most people with hepatitis C lived as long as anyone else.
"Many never develop serious problems but some will need active treatment at some stage of the illness. A small number with hepatitis C have progressive liver disease that does not respond to existing treatments.
"However, doctors are making real progress in finding better treatments. Nonetheless, since 1997 it has been obvious that the inability of those infected to buy life assurance or mortgage protection policies is further compounding the damage they had already suffered."
Mr Kelly said there was no doubt what happened regarding hepatitis C was "the greatest public health tragedy since the foundation of the State".
"No monetary support or compensation can every undo the damage."
Ms Harney said an insurance support scheme on a statutory basis showed the continued commitment of the Government to working with victims and providing all possible supports.
There were already two forms of recompense in place for persons with hepatitis C and HIV, the first being the compensation scheme administered through the hepatitis C and HIV compensation tribunal. To date, the tribunal had incurred expenditure of more than €660 million and had made awards to about 2,200 people.
The second form of recompense was the provision of a range of healthcare services, costing about €15 million annually. When the Bill was passed, every person who received a compensation award at the tribunal, under the existing or new legislation, would also receive a special health card.
Fine Gael spokesman Dr Liam Twomey said sections of the Bill represented a Government decision to restrict some of the entitlements of patients.
"The Government is setting enormous store by the Elisa [ Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay] test, arguing that it is extremely accurate and has improved greatly in recent years," Dr Twomey said. "The Elisa test is a test for antibodies and not for the virus itself."
Labour spokeswoman Liz McManus said the Bill was "a betrayal of a small blighted minority of men and women who suffer sickness and stigma as a direct result of negligence by the State". She said the Minister had argued that the Bill was about insurance while ignoring that it was about much more than that.
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) said that when the groups read the Bill, they were shocked to find they had become the victims of what could only be described as "a legislative ambush" by the Minister.
