The preparatory work on the regulations and the settlement arrangements under section 8 of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act, 1997, which is being carried out by my Department, the Attorney General's Office and the compensation tribunal is almost complete. These regulations will cover, inter alia, the establishment of the statutory tribunal, the establishment of the reparation fund and matters relating to costs and expenses. Although it is not necessary to have settlement arrangements under section 8 in place in order to establish the statutory compensatory tribunal, it is my intention that on the establishment day, all benefits accruing to claimants will be immediately available.
The procedures for bringing claims before the statutory tribunal will not, in general, require regulations as they primarily involve administrative arrangements which will be made by the tribunal itself. In this regard, new application forms have been prepared and printed which will incorporate the range of options available to claimants under the Act.
I understand that many claimants will wish to claim from the reparation fund which will give them automatic entitlement to an amount of 20 per cent of their tribunal award. The reparation fund will be established on the same day as the statutory tribunal and I understand that procedures for claims and payments from the fund will be straightforward and that the tribunal will notify all claimants, including those who have already had their claims determined by the non-statutory tribunal, of their entitlements as soon as possible, inviting them to claim from the reparation fund or to choose one of the other options available under the Act. Payments from the reparation fund will be made automatically on foot of such claims where appropriate.
The Deputy will be aware that on 16 September last I amended clause one of the non-statutory compensation scheme. The effect of the amendment was to allow access to the non-statutory compensation tribunal to persons who, in particular circumstances, appeared to have contracted hepatitis C from the administration of blood or blood products outside the State. At this point I am aware of only one such case. However, in the interests of fairness I consider that sufficient time should be made available to allow any other person who might be covered by the amended clause to make a claim.
I will be in touch with the four groups representing those person eligible to make claims to the tribunal within the next week or so to discuss the draft regulations, the settlement arrangements under section 8 and procedural matters relating to the making of claims. Following these discussions it is my intention to sign the commencement order bringing the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act, 1997, into operation. At that stage, all the necessary arrangements will be in place to allow claimants their full range of entitlements under the Act.
