Before coming to the Order of Business I propose to deal with a number of related notices under Standing Order 30 from Deputies Geoghegan-Quinn and O'Donnell. I propose to call the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their notices to my office.
Requests to move Adjournment of Dáil under Standing Order 30.
I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 30 to discuss the following urgent matters: the contradiction which has emerged between evidence given to the Committee of Public Accounts last Thursday by the acting chief executive of the Blood Transfusion Service Board and statements made to the Dáil and in public by the Minister for Health, Deputy Noonan, and the Minister of State, Deputy O'Shea; and, following the revelations about the existence of the 1976 file and given the concerns of hepatitis C victims, the immediate necessity to investigate (i) why the file was not shown to the expert group and (ii) the adequacy of current provisions for compensation given the lack of confidence of hepatitis C victims in the ad hoc tribunal.
I wish to suspend the business of Dáil Éireann under Standing Order 30 to discuss an urgent matter of public importance, namely, the contradiction between remarks made to the Committee of Public Accounts last Thursday and statements made to the Dáil on 28 March by the Minister for Health and the Minister of State at the Department of Health; and that Dáil Éireann seeks an urgent statement from the Minister of Health on the contents of the report of the expert group on the Blood Transfusion Service Board in its investigation into how women contracted hepatitis C through contaminated anti-D blood products.
Having considered the matters fully I do not consider them to be contemplated by the Standing Order and, therefore, cannot grant leave to move the motions. For the information of the House, there are priority questions on the subject to the Minister for Health for answer tomorrow.