THE tribunal of inquiry into the hepatitis C scandal will have a "traumatic effect" on infected women, similar to that felt after the death of Mrs Brigid McCole, an Oireachtas committee has been told.
Positive Action, which campaigns on behalf of almost 700 affected women, said members were in "desperate need of proper counselling" to come to terms with the illness.
Ms Jane O'Brien told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Women's Rights it was "particularly difficult" for women to come to terms with Mrs McCole's death from the hepatitis C virus which we were told no one was supposed to die from". Mrs McCole had great courage and integrity, she said.
The committee heard that Mrs McCole had to spend 11 hours on a bus when she travelled to Dublin for treatment. She caught the bus at 5.30 a.m. and arrived in Dublin at 4 p.m.
Positive Action stressed the need for treatment services in the north west. The committee had earlier written to the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, inquiring about women in this area using facilities in Derry.
In a letter of reply received during the meeting, Mr Noonan said he had contacted the North Western Health Board about this proposal. He would contact the committee once the board had responded.
Ms O'Brien said it was "distressing for the victims of this appalling tragedy" to listen to and read of matters coming to light at the tribunal of inquiry.
"This is the unfolding truth that we were never meant to know. It is the truth we so badly wanted to discover and that which we felt we had a right to know", she said.
Many women had come to terms with hepatitis C but for some it was an "intense secret", they kept from brothers, sisters and, in some cases, parents.
While some women were "very confident" of attending meetings, others were "very intense" about the secret and that brought its own burden. "Many will not release that secret easily. For many that may never happen", she said.
Ms Paula Kealy said some women would not attend Positive Action's regional meetings because they feared meeting someone they knew.
Ms Josephine Mahony said there was a greater need for counselling under the provisions of the recent Health Amendment Act.
Eight Positive Action volunteers were doing most of the counselling as women trusted them and knew they would sympathise with them, she said.
The committee's chairwoman, Ms Mary Wallace (Fianna Fail) said members were conscious of Mrs McCole's case and her suffering. The committee will write to Mr Noonan on issues raised during yesterday's meeting.