Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 20 Feb 1975

Vol. 278 No. 6

Supplementary Estimate, 1975. - Vote 49: Health.

The Dáil, according to order, resumed consideration of Supplementary Estimates for Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 1975.

Minister for Health (Mr. Corish)

I move:

That a supplementary sum not exceeding £414,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on 31st day of December, 1975, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Health (including Oifig an Árd-Chlaraitheora) and certain services administered by that Office, including grants to Health Boards, miscellaneous grants, and certain grants-in-aid.

The purpose of introducing this supplementary estimate in advance of the main Estimate is to secure the agreement of the House to the creation of a new subhead relating to payments to children with disabilities which resulted from use by the mothers of the children concerned of the drug thalidomide.

The Government announced shortly after taking office that they accepted in principle that they should help to augment the assistance to Irish thalidomide children and their parents from the German compensation fund. The compensation from the German fund consists of a lump sum payment of between about £1,300 and £4,200 and a monthly pension for life ranging from £25 to £75 approximately, depending on the severity of disablement. The Government have decided to pay each child in addition to this, further sums equal to four times the German lump sum, plus a monthly allowance equal to the German allowance. This means that from both sources the children will receive lump sums ranging from about £6,500 at the minimum level of disability to about £21,000 at the maximum and monthly allowances totalling £50 at the minimum and £150 at the maximum. Both the Irish Government and the German payments will be disregarded for income tax purposes and so will not affect the tax liability of either the children or their parents.

The Irish allowance will be reviewed from time to time in line with reviews of other social welfare payments—a significant consideration in these inflationary times. The provision which I am asking the House to approve for the purpose, under the new subhead, in the current financial year is £414,000, to cover the lump sums and the monthly allowances for 1975 and a very small amount of past expenses incurred by the parents.

I think it is generally agreed that the level of financial assistance decided upon by the Government has been generous. And it is by no means the full extent of the Government's commitment to these children. The matter is not one to be disposed of simply by a cash allocation. There are problems for these children and their families across a wide spectrum of needs for which they will require special support and assistance in varying degrees and for varying periods of their lives. The reports of the Irish Thalidomide Medical Board which I established to advise me on the degree of disability and special needs of the children have provided a blueprint on which to base our consideration of how such problems as exist can best be dealt with. Full eligibility for health services has been granted to all of the children, without regard to means in any case. On top of these, particular attention has been given to the matters such as the supply of prostheses, educational aids and other appliances which will facilitate their everyday life.

As well as provision for these more obviously physical needs there will be more difficult and delicate demands as regards advising and helping these children to lead the most independent and full life consistent with their degree of handicap. These problems will be especially evident over the vital, self-conscious years of adolescence when their education and training are determining to a decisive degree the future pattern of their lives. Because the range of needs is so wide, I have asked the National Rehabilitation Board to supervise the implementation of the Irish Thalidomide Medical Board's Reports, in consultation with health boards and other authorities and organisations concerned.

There will be no charges to the parents or their children in respect of these services and no element of them is reflected in the £414,000 which I am now seeking. I hope the action we have taken and are pledged to will bring some measure of peace of mind to the parents of these children and allow them to look to their future with more optimism and less anxiety.

Mr. Haughey

We have pleasure in immediately agreeing to this supplementary estimate. It is only right that we should commend the Minister for his approach to this tragic calamity and the least this Legislature might do is make the money he is seeking available to him. We also welcome the fact that he acknowledges very clearly that it is not just a matter of making some money immediately available but that he proposes to use all the agencies and institutions available to him to try to help those families and these children to cope with the appalling situation which has been thrust upon them. We have pleasure in agreeing with the supplementary estimate and commending the Minister for his approach to the problem.

Dr. Byrne

In supporting the Minister on the supplementary estimate one must admire the speed at which he has worked to bring this estimate before the House. This problem has been with us now for well over a decade and the Minister is to be complimented on the fact that a satisfactory arrangement has been made with the parents and the children. One would like to see further investigation into the possibility of compensation being mandatory for all drugs which have escaped the control of the Irish Drug Control Board. We should take stronger measures to protect against the importation, sale and distribution of modern drugs. There is an old saying: "Be not the first by whom the new is tried, nor yet the last to lay the old aside", which applies to the distribution and prescribing of these medicines.

This is a classical case of a drug coming on the market which was not researched to the degree one would hope for in this day of modern sophistication. Not all the families who feel they have suffered from thalidomide have been compensated. Only about half of the original number of applicants have been diagnosed as being true thalidomides. One would like to have seen a greater deal of compassion on the part of the German drug company in their assessment of the congenital dyscrasia caused by the drug.

It is very encouraging to see the Minister making available all the institutions of the health services to these children who have not to have regard to costs for the rest of their lives. Appliances and educational facilities will be provided to help these children. It is a great tragedy that this occurred and we must ensure that it is prevented in the future. It is only fair to say that there was a certain amount of warning and that the signs had appeared long before the drug was taken off the market. Perhaps we were a little slow in removing the drug from the market.

Mr. E. Collins

I should like to support this supplementary estimate and to commend the Minister on providing financial help for these unfortunate children. A wide range of aid in the field of health and education and social welfare will be extended to them. Let us hope that, with the Government's commitment, and with the help of many people in many fields, these children will be able to live as normal a life as possible. They have suffered because of a drug produced by a German firm which was not properly tested. The result was that some children were born with congenital malformation.

There are many other children in our society who also suffer from congenital malformations or congenital handicaps. Perhaps the time is ripe for a reconsideration of State aid for these children. At the moment they are helped by social welfare benefits. They are also helped by voluntary aid bodies, voluntary handicapped committees, the National Rehabilitation Board, and so on. The Government should look into the whole principle of supporting children born with a congenital defect and children who develop a severe handicap, physical or mental.

A central policy should be adopted to aid these children not only financially but across the whole spectrum of education to allow them to get the best benefit and advice the State can offer. I am aware of the wonderful work being done by many voluntary committees and I am also aware that the State aids them to a certain degree. I would ask the Government to examine the whole broad spectrum of congenital diseases and severe diseases which may arise in early childhood with a view to adopting a financial and social policy of helping all those children irrespective of their income. They must get the best possible specialised education and the best possible chance to grow up and lead as normal a life as possible.

Mr. Healy

I welcome this measure. If it is overdue it is because of the necessity to examine every facet of it carefully and well. I take it as evidence of the Government's interest in handicapped people and especially handicapped children. Many people have to bear the cross of a handicapped child. It is a pity that so much of their assistance depends on the voluntary subscriptions of people through pools, and bingo, and so on. In a civilised society we should be able to look after the handicapped from national resources.

I would be the last person to decry the necessity for voluntary effort. It is only right that the community should make every possible effort to look after the handicapped. This does good for the handicapped but, perhaps, it does more good for those who look after them and voluntarily undertake such a task. At the same time, the State will have to face up to the fact that we must become more and more involved in seeing that handicapped people are looked after as well as the State can afford to do so. I welcome this measure. I take it as an indication that the State is willing to become as much involved as possible in the care of the handicapped person.

Mr. Corish

I should like to thank Deputies for welcoming these proposals in relation to thalidomide children and to assure the House that the monetary compensation has been accepted publicly by the parents of these children as being generous. My one regret is that the matter continued for so long. It was no fault of mine that this was so. It was necessary to have each of the children examined and points allocated in relation to their compensation. We also had to await the report of the Irish Thalidomide Medical Board. It was a very long process. The parents of many young children believed that their children were the victims of this drug. On the whole, the outcome has been very good and generous.

I take the point that strict monitoring must be employed in respect of new drugs coming on the market. The National Drugs Advisory Board are very diligent in monitoring new drugs, medicines, tablets, and so on, that come on the market. The Government have indicated their concern for other handicapped children. A year-and-a-half ago the constant care allowance was introduced whereby those severely physically or mentally handicapped are entitled to an allowance of £25 per month, irrespective of means. The Government have accepted the report of the working party on the training and employment of handicapped people in principle and, as soon as the proper resources are available, we will implement its main recommendations. This was an excellent report.

Deputy Collins mentioned other children who were physically or mentally handicapped. Of course, children of medical card holders can have practically all the medical services made available to them. There is the problem of other children in our society who are not covered as are the children of parents with medical cards. I should like, again, to thank Deputies for their welcome for this proposal. I am sorry this could not have been done long ago but it is regarded as being reasonably generous particularly by the parents of these young children.

Mr. Brennan

Will it be retrospective?

Mr. Corish

I am afraid not.

Vote put and agreed to.