A Government backbencher has accused the State of behaving “appallingly” towards the victims of thalidomide and criticised the “glacial pace” with which the issue is being dealt.
Fine Gael TD Barry Ward said the Government has “dragged its heels” in apologising to the affected mothers and their children, now in their mid to late 60s. The treatment of the survivors “is fundamentally wrong and shameful and is a stain on the recent history of this State”, he said.
He believed a “basic justice” has “never been met”, more than 60 years after pregnant women were prescribed the drug, originally developed in Germany in the 1950s as a sedative and later promoted to treat morning sickness.
It was withdrawn from most markets in 1961 following evidence of its link to birth defects. However, it was still sold in Ireland until 1964.
READ MORE
Many children were born without limbs or with shortened limbs, with hearing and vision impairment and injuries to internal organs.
Mr Ward said since then there has been “no apology, acknowledgment, full suite of treatment and no compensation”.
The Dún Laoghaire TD said he was highlighting the issue because this week marks a year since the three former coalition leaders wrote a letter to thalidomide survivors, which was “not in fact an apology or an acknowledgment, but really a communication in respect of some supports that have been put in place”.
At the time the letter angered members of the Irish Thalidomide Association, still waiting for a State apology following a long-running campaign in which they are also seeking compensation and supports.
There are fewer than 40 survivors still alive, and only five of their mothers who were prescribed the drug.
In September 2024 the then government appointed retired High Court Judge Mr Justice Paul Gilligan to engage with thalidomide survivors. Mr Ward said he did not want “in any way to interfere with that process”.
But raising the issue of thalidomide in the Dáil this week, he condemned the lack of apology for what had happened to the women.
“These are people who have lived throughout their lives with debilitating issues as a result of the fact that they survived thalidomide while their mothers were pregnant,” he said.
“The glacial pace with which the State is actually addressing this problem is shameful” and “the treatment of thalidomide survivors by allowing the matter to go on for as long as it has is a very poor reflection on the State”.
He said most of the women who took the drug and “bore that burden throughout their lives”, have died.
Minister of State for Justice Niall Collins told Mr Ward the Government “is committed to supporting people affected by thalidomide” as he referred to the “enhanced package” of health supports and personal social services. Enhanced healthcare, social care and independent living supports are currently available, he said.
Mr Collins also pointed to the establishment last year of the national thalidomide advocacy office, set up to liaise with thalidomide survivors and assist them to access health and social service supports.
“The support provided is on a one-to-one basis, tailored to the specific needs of the person and in response to contact received from survivors,” with liaison from relevant HSE and other personnel to ensure the services are provided.
He said “each survivor is also eligible for a medical card on an administrative basis, regardless of means, in addition to aids and appliances, equipment, housing adaptations and access to a full range of primary care, hospital and personal social services”.
The Minister also said the German Grünenthal Foundation, established by the drug manufacturer, has “accepted applications from individuals for compensation for thalidomide-related injury”.
