Lawyers representing haemophiliacs who became infected with HIV and hepatitis C from contaminated blood products since the mid-1970s are to spend the next two weeks travelling the State taking written statements from those infected.
This follows a request for their statements from the chairwoman of the Haemophilia Infection Inquiry, Judge Alison Lindsay, before she will decide on an application by the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS) to have the evidence of infected persons heard first when the tribunal begins oral hearings.
The tribunal, which had hoped to begin hearings early this year, will investigate how 260 people with haemophilia became infected with HIV and hepatitis C from contaminated blood products. Of those, 62 have died.
Sixty infected persons have indicated they are prepared to give evidence and some have already given written statements at the society's offices in Dublin.
The administrator of the IHS, Ms Rosemary Daly, has confirmed the society would also seek a judicial review in the High Court this week of the decision by the tribunal before Christmas to refuse to grant it costs before the inquiry begins.
The Department of Health offered to pay two-thirds of the costs incurred by barristers representing the society, but Ms Daly said it also wanted the costs of medical experts, who would assist the legal team interpret documents, paid. "Our members feel it is unfair the society is being put into a position of bankrupting itself to find out the truth," she added.
The IHS is also concerned about Judge Lindsay's decision to give the society access only to documents perceived by the tribunal's legal team to be relevant to the inquiry.
No date has been set for full public hearings of the inquiry.