Martin rejects appeal by IHS over Hep C compensation

The Minister for Health has rejected an appeal by the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS) for a change in the rules governing compensation for those who contracted Hepatitis C from infected blood products.

In a statement today following a meeting with the IHS, Minister Micheál Martin, said the Society was "incorrect" in its understanding of the workings of the compensation tribunal and of a recent court ruling pertaining to compensation.

In March the Supreme Court ruled that victims who accepted awards from the tribunal could not appeal them to the courts.

The IHS claims the health of many persons, including 79 of its members, infected with Hepatitis C has deteriorated significantly since the late 1990s.

The Society wants the minister to introduce legislation to allow them appeal their awards to the High Court.

However today the Department of Health denied suggestions that the compensation tribunal operated an award system "based on a cap or limit as to damages".

In regard to the IHS's request that its members be granted a second right of appeal to the High Court, it said the policy pursued by the Department ensures "that all of the costs of medical consequences of Hepatitis C infection, including liver transplants are fully met and will always be fully met by the State".

It also said: "No claimant seeking compensation arising from Hepatitis C infection has been denied a right of appeal to the High Court.

"In each case claimants were and are offered the right to appeal to the High Court within certain time limits," it said.

The Minister has been advised that it would not be legally possible to select claimants, such as members of the IHS and grant them a second opportunity to bring an appeal to the High Court, the Department said.

The IHS is due to release a statement later this afternoon.