ANOTHER victim of hepatitis C blood contamination is to ask the High Court for an early hearing of her claim for damages against the Blood Transfusion Service Board (BTSB), the Minister for Health and the Attorney General.
Lawyers on her behalf will make the application before the High Court on Monday, October 14th. It is understood they are claiming the woman is suffering from severe psychological stress and needs to have her case heard. She is understood to be in her early 40s with a young family and living in the south-east.
Yesterday they applied at a special sitting of the High Court in a judge's home and were granted leave to make the application.
The political fallout is to continue in the Dail next week as pressure builds on the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, following the death of Mrs Brigid Ellen McCole. Her funeral takes place tomorrow. Solicitors for the Donegal mother of 12 reached a compensation settlement of £1 75,000 with the BTSB just hours before her death on Wednesday.
The board admitted liability and will apologise in the High Court next week to Mrs McCole's family. It is believed that Mrs McCole's award and legal costs will be about £1 million while the BTSB's legal costs are expected to be just under £1 million.
Insisting that the Minister had failed to produce satisfactory answers during the special question-and-answer session on the BTSB yesterday, Ms Ma ire Geoghegan-Quinn, Fianna Fail, said she would write to Mr Noonan and the Government Chief Whip today seeking a debate in government time next week. For the Progressive Democrats, Ms Liz O'Donnell signalled that her party will also table a Private Member's motion.
That debate will follow the admission next Tuesday of liability by the BTSB in the High Court.
Earlier, Mr Noonan expressed condolences to Mrs McCole's family. He confirmed that the damages agreed came to, £175,000, exactly the amount lodged in the High Court by the BTSB last May but rejected by Mrs McCole.
Under questioning, the Minister also said he would consider reconvening the Dr Miriam Hederman O'Brien expert group to look again at the hepatitis C controversy. He insisted there was no reason why the Compensation Tribunal would cease to operate now that the BTSB had made an admission of liability. It was only logical that the BTSB would also admit liability in subsequent similar cases, he said.
Opposition TDs claimed the Minister was trying to distance himself and the State from the BTSB after he insisted his Department's role was "supervisory".
They insisted the State had obstructed Mrs McCole's case at every turn. They criticised what they termed the deathbed admission of liability for negligence.
Ms Geoghegan-Quinn last night said she was still dissatisfied with the Minister's replies in the Dail. On September 26th, she asked him if he or any agency, under his jurisdiction was attempting to reach a settlement with Mrs McCole.
Even though a settlement was being discussed at that stage, the Minister did not tell the Dail, she said. However, the Minister insisted he was legally constrained from doing so as the matter was still before the court.
Mr Noonan also said it was not appropriate for him to go into the file or "document of discovery" which showed that the BTSB knew that the donor from whose blood the Anti-D product was made had infectious hepatitis.