Aengus Ó Snodaigh
Question:7. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence his plans to publish the recommendations of the latest report of the lariam working group. [3175/18]
View answerWednesday, 24 January 2018
Questions (7)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
This question relates to the working group which was set up before the Minister of State took up his role looking into the use of Lariam within the Defence Forces. The Minister of State told me last night in a reply to a parliamentary question that the group had made 12 recommendations. When will the report be published and when will we know what those recommendations are? Do the recommendations comply with last June's Dáil motion that stated Lariam should be discontinued as a drug of first choice for the Defence Forces?
As previously advised, the report of the working group on malaria chemoprophylaxis was convened in the context of current and potential litigation and is therefore legally privileged and will not be published. The working group has made a total of 12 recommendations, which are intended to ensure that the Defence Forces' medical policies and practices continually develop in light of best practice. I have accepted these recommendations in principle but recognise that some need further development before implementation.
While acknowledging that the report is legally privileged in the context of litigation, I can confirm that many of its recommendations focus on areas including planning, training and education-information sharing as well as the establishment of a medical advisory group. As I already indicated, proposals will be developed further in respect of the establishment of this new medical advisory group. This will formalise the provision of ongoing expert advice, including external expert medical advice, to the Defence Forces on a range of medical matters including malaria chemoprophylaxis.
I assure the Deputy that the health and welfare of the men and women of the Defence Forces personnel is a key priority for me and the Defence Forces.
I do not know how we can have any faith in a working group and its hidden recommendations when the same working group, in its 2013 report which was also not published, had as one of its conclusions that the Defence Forces could continue prescribing Lariam as a drug of first choice to tackle and prevent malaria. It found that the Defence Forces were acting correctly at a time when other defence forces and armed forces were ending the use of Lariam to prevent malaria because of its association with major health problems among serving and retired members, particularly mental health issues.
Is the Minister of State aware of what is happening in other countries? Is he aware of major parliamentary inquiries, such as in Canada, the US, Australia, Britain and New Zealand? In their view, the continued prescription of Lariam to prevent malaria was akin to poisoning members of the defence forces in those countries. If I were to say, as others have done, that the continued use of Lariam in this day and age was akin to poisoning members of the Defence Forces, how would the Minister of State respond?
I am no medical officer but I have been advised by the chief medical officer of the Irish Defence Forces that Lariam is the most appropriate course of drugs to give to members of the Defence Forces in the areas where it is required. I have every confidence in the working group and its recommendations. I will accept those recommendations but it will take some time to implement some of them. The recommendations are intended to ensure the Defence Forces' medical policies and practice continue to develop in line with best practice.
Certain of the recommendations will need to be further developed to allow for their full implementation and further work is required in respect of the need to establish a medical advisory group.
We do not know what the recommendations are so we will not be able to gauge whether they are effective or not. The medical and academic evidence is stacking up against Lariam and I can give the Minister of State a report by one of the expert witnesses in a recent case which was settled by the State Claims Agency just before Christmas. Has the Minister had a briefing on that case? Was the case settled out of court because of the overwhelming medical evidence from expert witnesses on behalf of the claimant that linked Lariam to the illnesses the claimant had suffered? This totally discredited the case of the State and the Defence Forces. Will the Minister of State now reassess his strategy, which has been to fight each case tooth and nail? Will he now address the totality of cases and the other possible cases, as well as the ongoing legacy of prescribing this drug when it was deemed to have been dangerous by other armed forces around the world?
The Deputy will be aware that the State Claims Agency manages all personal injury cases on behalf of myself and my Department. The case was settled on 30 November without admission of liability and the plaintiff withdrew any part of his claim that related to the choice of Lariam by the defendants as a chemoprophylactic. The Deputy will also be aware that all other matters are settled and the case was struck out. In view of a number of other litigation cases happening, it would be totally inappropriate of me to comment further. I understand a case is expected to be heard later this year.