Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 30 March 2004
378 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children if counselling has been offered to the immediate families of persons diagnosed with hepatitis C or HIV as defined in section 4(1)(a) and (b) of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997. [9820/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra380 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children the provision which has been made for the future needs of persons diagnosed with hepatitis C or HIV as defined in section 4(1)(a) and (b) of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997. [9822/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra382 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children if there is a mechanism in place for identifying person diagnosed, or who are at risk of diagnosis, with hepatitis C or HIV as defined in section 4(1)(a) and (b) of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997 and for contacting such persons with a view to offering counselling or other appropriate assistance; and the outreach in which his Department is involved with regard to these matters and with the families of these persons. [9824/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 378, 380 and 382 together.
I have met with the support groups representing persons who acquired hepatitis C and HIV via blood and blood products on a number of occasions and have always listened carefully to the issues which they have brought to my attention. Officials of my Department have regular contact with persons infected with hepatitis C and HIV and their families, and are familiar with the issues which are of concern to these groups. There are a number of fora where my officials, the support groups and the service providers meet together to work in collaboration on relevant matters.
Counselling, including psychological and psychotherapy services, is one of a range of health services available without charge to persons with hepatitis C, contracted through blood and blood products, under the Health (Amendment) Act, 1996. Each health board has a list of private counsellors who will provide counselling and who have undertaken to invoice the health board directly. Persons entitled to counselling may also attend any counsellor of their choice, once the counsellor meets certain professional criteria, and seek recoupment of their costs from the local health board. Whilst eligibility for most of these services applies to the infected person only, access to counselling is also available to immediate relatives.
Information on counselling services is contained in an information guide to services which has been distributed to every person with hepatitis C acquired through blood and blood products. A leaflet on counselling services has also been produced to give more information on what to expect from counselling. Copies of the information guide have also been issued to GPs and other health care professionals so that they would be fully informed of entitlements for hepatitis C patients, service availability, and appropriate points of contact for further information.
Each of the designated hepatology units has a hepatitis C nurse counsellor; some units have the services of a dedicated psychologist and others have access to the hospital's psychology services. Treating physicians are aware of the psychological effects of hepatitis C and refer as appropriate to counselling, psychology and psychiatric services.
The four support groups — Positive Action, Transfusion Positive, the Irish Haemophilia Society and the Irish Kidney Association — also give support to newly diagnosed persons and assist them in making contact with appropriate services.
The Irish Haemophilia Society, IHS, recently alerted my Department to the fact that applications to the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation Tribunal under the 2002 Act had started to bring unresolved grief to the surface and highlighted the need for counselling for the families of the bereaved. The IHS suggested that they would be willing to facilitate the provision of a solution to this problem and my Department was happy to agree. If the Deputy is aware of any bereaved families who might be in this position, I would advise him to put them in contact with the Irish Haemophilia Society in the first instance.
The Consultative Council on Hepatitis C was established in 1996 and has 16 members, appointed for a three-year period. The four main patient support groups — Positive Action, Transfusion Positive, the Irish Kidney Association, the Irish Haemophilia Society — perform a vital role as advocates for their members and nominate six of the members of the consultative council. In collaboration with the Consultative Council on Hepatitis C and the support groups within the last year alone, my Department has published an information guide on primary care and hospital services for persons with hepatitis C; published two information leaflets — one on the Health (Amendment) Act card and one on hospital services for persons with hepatitis C; organised an information day on hepatitis C in Dublin Castle; and organised an international conference on hepatitis C which took place between June 25 and 27 in Trinity College, Dublin.
Plans are in place by the consultative council to produce further literature, including a booklet on transplantation, hold another information day later this year, and plan a second international conference for 2006. The council is also working on a range of specific service issues and is monitoring the implications of the health services reform programme for hepatitis C services.
In addition to the consultative council, regular meetings are held at national level between the support groups, service providers and my Department in order to monitor services and identify emerging needs on an ongoing basis. In the eastern region, a regional forum has been established where service users, administrators and service providers meet together to monitor services, resolve local and regional difficulties and identify future service need. The support groups also meet with individual hospitals and consultants to discuss specific issues of concern to their members. All four support groups are funded by the Department to provide support services to their members, and to represent their members' interests with service providers.
The identification of future service needs is an ongoing concern of myself, my Department and the service providers. The remit of the Consultative Council on Hepatitis C specifically includes advising me on future service needs. In order to address this area of its remit, the Consultative Council on Hepatitis C asked the National Disease Surveillance Centre to establish a national database of persons who were infected with hepatitis C through the administration within the State of infected blood and blood products and I have been happy to provide the funding for this project. Work on the database is at an advanced stage, and all four of the patient support groups are represented on the steering committee. As well as providing an invaluable resource for research, the objectives of the database include evaluation of the outcomes of treatment; monitoring the uptake of services and providing information for the planning and evaluation of health services.
379 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of awards pursuant to the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997 of less than €400 which have been made on the grounds of mental distress. [9821/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra381 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of families which have more than one member diagnosed with Hepatitis C or HIV as defined in section 4(1) of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997. [9823/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra383 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has satisfied himself that siblings of persons diagnosed with hepatitis C or HIV as defined in section 4(1)(a) and (b) of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997 who are not carers have adequate redress under the tribunal mechanism. [9825/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra384 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children the maximum amount available in compensation to siblings, mothers, fathers, children and spouses under the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997 assuming that none are carers under current legislation. [9826/04]
Amharc ar fhreagra385 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Health and Children if he has plans to extend the rights to making claims in respect of siblings and families who have more than one member diagnosed with hepatitis C or HIV as defined in section 4(1) of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act of 1997 and in respect of families who have more than one member deceased, diagnosed with hepatitis C or HIV as defined in section 4(1) of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997, for nervous shock resulting from, infections under section 9 of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997. [9827/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 379, 381 and 383 to 385, inclusive, together.
There are a number of headings under which siblings, mothers, fathers, children and spouses can make claims under the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997, as amended. These are: mental distress; loss of income/services; general damages — where the deceased would have been entitled to make a claim for general damages but did not do so, his or her dependants are entitled to make a claim for these damages; post-traumatic stress disorder or nervous shock; loss of consortium — spouse or partner only; and loss of society.
The maximum amount of compensation available for mental distress is defined in the Civil Liability Acts at €25,400 — £20,000. For all the other heads of damages there is no statutory maximum award. The only instruction which the compensation tribunal has in this regard is the stipulation in the 1997 Act that:
...an award of the Tribunal to a claimant shall be made on the same basis as an award of the High Court calculated by reference to the principles which govern the measure of damages in the law of tort and any relevant statutory provisions....
In the case of mental distress and general damages, the tribunal may make one award under each heading, and apportion that award amongst the eligible dependants at their discretion. The list of eligible dependants is defined by the Civil Liability Acts and includes parents, grandparents, spouse, children, grandchildren and siblings.
With regard to post traumatic stress disorder/nervous shock and loss of society, eligibility is confined to parents, spouse and children. Under these heads of damages the number of eligible persons is not relevant, and each eligible person is entitled to an award in their own right, rather than a share in a joint award.
Loss of income or services, and losses incurred by carers come under the heading of special damages. Losses under these headings are based on an actuarial assessment of the actual losses incurred in the past and an estimate of the losses that will be incurred in the future. These awards are made on an individual basis, and any eligible individual who incurred a financial loss is entitled to make a claim.
The Deputy has asked for the number of awards of less than €400 awarded for mental distress. As I have explained, there is a statutory amount of €25,400 — £20,000 — specified in the civil liability legislation for mental distress. The apportionment of the award between dependants is a matter for the tribunal.
The Deputy has also asked specifically about compensation to siblings, who are not carers. Of the headings of claim which I have outlined above, siblings of a person whose death was caused wholly or significantly by hepatitis C or HIV are entitled to a share in awards for mental distress and where applicable, any award for the general damages to which the deceased would have been entitled whilst alive. In addition, siblings who have incurred losses while acting as carers are also entitled to make a claim to the tribunal in respect of those losses.
I have no statistical information on the number of families with more than one person diagnosed with hepatitis C or HIV. I am however aware that one of the most tragic aspects of the infection with hepatitis C and HIV of persons with haemophilia is the fact that many families have more than one member who has been infected. Where families have suffered in this way, family members have an entitlement to compensation in respect of each infected person, and each case is considered separately. Siblings who have had two or more family members die because of hepatitis C or HIV may join in claims for mental distress in respect of each deceased person. They may similarly join in claims for the deceased's general damages, if applicable. Parents who have had two or more children die of hepatitis C or HIV are entitled to join in the claims for mental distress, and general damages of the deceased, if applicable. They are also entitled to make separate claims in their own right for post traumatic stress disorder/nervous shock, and for loss of society.
I have no plans to extend the hepatitis C and HIV compensation scheme, which was agreed after detailed discussions with the Irish Haemophilia Society and its legal representatives, and enacted by the Oireachtas.
