Hepatitis Act change to allow top-up payments

The government is to amend the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act to allow top-up payments to haemophiliacs and their dependents…

The government is to amend the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act to allow top-up payments to haemophiliacs and their dependents in respect of HIV infection caused by contaminated blood transfusions.

The cost is expected to run into millions of pounds.

The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, yesterday announced that the Government had agreed the decision in principle. This followed intensive discussions between the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS) and the Government over the 105 IHS members who were infected in the 1980s, of whom 45 are still living. A settlement of £7.7 million was shared among those who had contracted the virus some years ago, after the Government had initially refused to grant any compensation in 1989. Further compensation will now be paid.

The situation regarding haemophiliacs was re-opened after the Hepatitis C scandal in 1994, when mothers who received the blood product Anti D were infected with Hepatitis C. Two years ago, the Hepatitis C tribunal was established. It has paid out £108 million in compensation to date.

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The average award amounts to about £140,000 and some claimants are opting for a provisional settlement, which would allow them to seek further payments in the event of a sudden deterioration in their health.

Disagreement between the Government and the IHS over the payment of the society's legal costs at the newly established Haemophilia and HIV Infection Inquiry has not yet been resolved. It is understood the Department of Health and Children has offered to pay two-thirds of the costs of IHS members on a monthly basis but this has not been accepted.