Spring asked to clarify if he spoke about McCole case

FIANNA Fail has called on the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, to clarify whether he spoke to the Minister for Health early last summer about…

FIANNA Fail has called on the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, to clarify whether he spoke to the Minister for Health early last summer about the McCole legal action and the plan to make a lodgment in the case.

In a return to the row which dominated the hepatitis C debate in the Dail, the Fianna Fail spokesman, Mr Brian Cowen, has called on the Government to put in the Oireachtas library the aide memoire and other papers given to Government on the controversy.

Fianna Fail is also requesting that all correspondence between the Chief State Solicitor, the State, the Blood Transfusion Service Board and the National Drugs Advisory Board be disclosed.

Meanwhile, Positive Action, the group which represents mothers infected with hepatitis C through contaminated anti D, has sought a meeting with the three Coalition leaders to express its concern at "the lack of urgency" on the matter.

READ MORE

In a statement yesterday, the group said it had written to the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, about the delay in forwarding details of proposed amendments to the Compensation Scheme to put it on a statutory footing. Central to its concern, it said, was the time scale within which the statutory scheme would be enacted.

Saying it now urgently required the heads of a Bill on the Government's proposals, the group also called for an extension of the present date of April 11th for the acceptance or rejection of offers made by the Compensation, Tribunal.

Positive Action members will gather in Dublin for an extraordinary general meeting next Saturday.