THE DEPARTMENT of Health last night denied a claim by the Hepatitis C Action Group that new information had been given to the Dail about the 1976 virus outbreak in the Anti D blood product.
The group said that a statement by the Minister of State for Health, Mr Brian O'Shea, amounted to an admission that the Blood Transfusion Service Board knew at the time that donor X, who was the source of the hepatitis C outbreak, was infected with hepatitis.
The action group added that in the light of Mr O'Shea's "admission" victims must consider whether they would be adequately compensated under the current ad-hoc tribunal scheme, or whether they should seek punitive damages.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said last night that the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, had referred to the infective hepatitis when the report of the Expert Group on the Blood Transfusion Service Board was published last year, and that therefore Mr O'Shea made no new revelations in the Dail on Thursday.