FUNDING of £22 million will be available this year for the payment of aggravated damages to claimants in the hepatitis C controversy, according to the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan.

A sum of £60 million has already been provided to pay awards by the non-statutory hepatitis C tribunal and a further £50 million will be available this year, the Minister said in the Dail.

He was introducing the second stage of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Bill, which establishes the current ad hoc tribunal on a statutory basis. The tribunal awards compensation to those who were infected with hepatitis C from Anti-D immunoglobulin or other blood products, or blood transfusion.

The £22 million, in a reparation fund for aggravated damages, is an alternative to applying to the statutory tribunal to assess aggravated or exemplary damages, Mr Noonan said. Paid from the fund, it will account for 20 per cent of the total award.

The Minister said the non-statutory compensation scheme has received 1,686 applications and has made 326 awards. These totalled £38 million, with an average award of £116,481.90. He said individual awards have ranged from £15,200 to £453,904 and it was a great tribute to the existing tribunal that not a single award had been rejected.

Ms Liz O'Donnell, the Progressive Democrats' health spokeswoman, said the Bill "represents another step in the tortuous trek towards justice for the victims of a major public health scandal".

She asked if the Minister was aware that the Blood Transfusion Service Board was "testing women who are presenting with another strain of hepatitis called hepatitis G, and whether there is a possible link between hepatitis G and anti-D manufactured by the BTSB?"

Mr Brian Cowen (FF), said his party would co-operate with the Bill. He would be making a number of amendments and said there was the prospect of "further generosity" by the Government in seeking to address some categories.