A JUDGE announced yesterday that a test case is to be heard in the High Court to determine the “real risk” gardaí face of contracting diseases in their work with infected drug addicts.
Ms Justice Mary Irvine has presided over a series of cases over the past two years in which gardaí have claimed compensation in relation to incidents in which they claimed they had been put at risk of contracting certain diseases.
Announcing plans for a special hearing in January in the High Court, the judge said there was now widespread knowledge of the transmissibility of hepatitis C and HIV viruses which had been prevalent in Ireland for decades.
Ms Justice Irvine took three “blood” cases from yesterday’s Garda compensation list and designated them as test cases to be heard together on January 12th, in order to enlighten all parties on the real risk factor.
Senior counsel representing the gardaí seeking compensation, on one side, and the State on the other side, will be heard along with expert witnesses.
There had been a significant growth in compensation claims by gardaí concerning these viruses and the judge directed a statistical breakdown of the occurrence of the transmission of these infections in the Garda in the past 20 years.
Ms Justice Irvine said claims tended to focus on injuries arising from fear on the part of gardaí of contracting hepatitis C or HIV, causing significant psychological problems including post-traumatic stress disorder.
“In almost every case, the court is told that these fears at a minimum have adversely affected their intimate personal relationships and family life,” Ms Justice Irvine said.
The court had to ensure that its approach to these cases was consistent and transparent and that they were conducted in a manner which did justice to both the injured and the public purse.
“I must ensure as a matter of priority that the court is furnished with all of the necessary medical evidence so that it can readily determine what precisely is the real risk of transmission,” she added.
It was also vital for the court and everyone concerned with the welfare of the gardaí, training instructors, superiors and doctors, to know what advice should be given in terms of the risk of infection and what precautions should be taken.