The haemophilia tribunal has been adjourned until next week to enable lawyers peruse new documents which have been brought to the attention of the tribunal.
An application to submit the additional documents, understood to have originated in BTSB files, was made yesterday by the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS) and granted by tribunal chairperson Judge Alison Lindsay.
The IHS said it believed the documents were relevant in light of the evidence given by the Blood Transfusion Service Board's deputy medical director, Dr Emer Lawlor, in recent days.
Judge Lindsay said she would adjourn proceedings to Monday to observe "fairness" to all parties by giving them an opportunity to study the new material.
She made it clear, however, that she did not consider "this sort of application" appropriate. The procedures to be observed had been set out and they required that all documents be shown to the tribunal team in advance and it would select which ones were relevant.
However, she appreciated certain matters may have arisen and felt it more prudent to grant the application but she stressed it was an exception. She said the documents should be submitted by close of business today and the tribunal would circulate them tomorrow.
Counsel for the IHS, Mr John Trainor SC, said the need to add the additional documents only came to light as the IHS considered the evidence of Dr Lawlor which seemed to take a different form to her core statement.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr John Finlay SC, did not accept that Dr Lawlor's evidence took any unusual turn. He said the application for documents to be admitted was coming "at a very late stage", contrary to agreed procedures, but the tribunal was anxious to consider any additional documents which were believed relevant.
