THE Cabinet yesterday requested changes in the Minister for Health's latest proposals to compensate hepatitis C victims.
A memorandum outlining the heads of the Bill which would place the compensation tribunal on a statutory basis was presented by Mr Noonan. It was agreed that "more drafting work" needed to be done before a meeting today between Department officials and Positive Action, the group representing women infected through anti-D immunoglobulin.
According to Department of Health sources, the matter is "very complicated" legally and the State still has a duty to protect itself in the future if problems arise. The Minister has received advice from the Attorney General.
Positive Action has said it wants the matter dealt with before the general election, but even though the heads of the Bill have been drawn up, it is expected to be some time before the legislation is passed.
A "flat" figure may be offered to cover exemplary or punitive damages to the hepatitis C victims under the terms of a Bill. The figure would vary, depending broadly on the year when the infection occurred. However, the victims expect that the aggravated damages will be individually assessed.
The average payment for those infected with hepatitis C through contaminated blood products from the compensation tribunal has been £113,000. It is expected that awards for aggravated damages would be considerably less.
The Positive Action chairwoman, Ms Jane O'Brien, said that up to now there had been no indication of how Mr Noonan proposed to address the issue of damages, which the group had put to him after the publication of the Finlay Report.