Clare Daly
Question:242. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if he has reviewed the evidence in regard to the harms caused by Pandemrix in view of a commitment to do so at Leaders' Questions on 15 May 2018. [14868/19]
View answerTuesday, 2 April 2019
Questions (242)
Written answers
I have been advised that the Taoiseach wrote directly to the Deputy on 30 May 2018 in relation to the points raised by her during Leaders Questions on 15 May 2018, which included detailed briefing provided by my Department.
As the Deputy is aware, the issue referred to in her question is the subject of ongoing litigation where the plaintiffs allege personal injury in which they claim the development of narcolepsy resulted from the administration of the H1N1 pandemic vaccine. These cases transferred to the State Claims Agency on 15 October 2013 when the Taoiseach signed the National Treasury Management Agency (Delegation of Claims Management Functions) (Amendment) Order 2013. It would not be appropriate for me as Minister for Health to interfere in the management of these claims which are delegated to the State Claims Agency.
The Discovery process is being actively case managed by a Judge of the High Court. There have been several High Court Motion hearings to date. The matter has been listed again before the High Court in October 2019 where a test case will be raised by the plaintiff. The Department of Health and the HSE continue to comply with all Orders made by the Courts and at no stage has the State failed to comply with a Discovery Order of the High Court.