The Government has offered to pay €2 million to 32 survivors of thalidomide and has said it will make provision for special care packages based on assessments of their individual needs.
Minister for Health Mary Harney announced the measures this evening following a meeting with members of the Irish Thalidomide Association, which was seeking compensation and an explanation for how the State handled the issue in the 1960s.
The Government has offered a once-off ex-gratia payment of €2 million (€62,500 each) to be divided equally between the Irish survivors, as “a practical expression of the Government's sympathy”.
They will also be paid an annual lump sum, in addition to current payments, equivalent to an annual payment which commenced for German survivors in 2009, of up to €3,680, in the most severe category of disability.
Ms Harney also said that if an individual thalidomide survivor had applied for, but did not qualify for either the Disabled Drivers Tax Concession Scheme or the Motorised Transport Grant, their cases would be examined “with a view to providing an equivalent level of financial assistance to assist with their transport needs”.
Ms Harney also published the report prepared for her by the State Claims Agency on the compensation issue.
That report noted that some of the survivors had “achieved and managed successful careers” but also that many of them were “struggling with unforeseen health and psychological issues arising from their disability”.
“It is indisputable that thalidomide survivors, and their families, have suffered greatly.”
It recommended a once-off payment of €50,000 to each of the thalidomide survivors, amounting to €1,550,000 in total, or alternatively a sum of €2 million paid into a special purpose trust.
The claims agency also recommended the payment of an annual lump sum, equivalent to the special German annual payment which started in mid-2009.
It also recommended the appointment of a “suitably qualified expert” to assess those Thalidomide survivors who need specialised treatment and services. Thereafter, it recommended a special care package be devised to address these survivors’ particular needs.
It also recommended that all thalidomide sufferers be automatically qualified to avail of the Disabled Drivers Scheme and the Motorised Transport Grant.
Two groups representing survivors – the Irish Thalidomide Association and the Irish Thalidomide Survivors’ Society wanted their original compensation, which took the form of a lump sum and per diem allowances, to be revisited on the grounds it was inadequate.
The survivors are currently entitled to a cumulative yearly tax-free allowance ranging from €11,092 to €30,380 depending on the severity of their disability. In Britain, the current average yearly allowance is about £20,000.
Ms Harney said she hoped the survivors would accept the offer of additional financial assistance and supports “as a fair and compassionate measure”.
“In 1975, the Government of the day expressed a commitment to ensure that the needs of the surviving children would be met. Today’s decision reaffirms that original commitment,” the Minister said in a statement.
She said the then attorney general advised the Government in 1975 that the State had “no legal obligation” arising from neglect on its part in respect of the injuries suffered by the survivors of thalidomide.
“Today, the Attorney General has concurred with that opinion.”
“Accepting that consistent advice, this Government, and its predecessors, have sought to reflect the great sympathy of the Irish people for survivors of thalidomide by making special support available through direct financial assistance, enhanced social supports and personal health services.”
Ms Harney said she was satisfied that a “full and fair examination has been carried out by the State Claims Agency and that it has provided an appropriate basis for consideration and decisions by the Government today”.
Dr Paul O’Connell, consultant rheumatologist at Beaumont Hospital has agreed to conduct multi-disciplinary assessments for the survivors.
Carmel Buckley, a senior nursing official in the HSE will also act as liaison with regard to the ongoing health and personal social services needs of the Irish survivors.
The Irish Thalidomide Association secretary Finola Cassidy told RTÉ the package seemed at first glance to be "wholly derisory", amounting to a figure of just €8 per day.
Speaking earlier Ms Cassidy said: “We tried for nine months to be party to the submissions and to have an interactive process with the State Claims Agency because this is the first time in 35 years that any avenue has been afforded to the survivors for a proper review."
“But they refused contact with us for nine months and so at the final hour, when an offer was made but the report was substantially finished, we didn’t engage with the process.”
Cabinet files from 1973 and 1974 indicate the Department of Health failed to immediately warn the public about the dangers of the drug when it was withdrawn by its German manufacturer in 1961 because “suspicions” about it had not been confirmed.
Children born to women who took the drug suffered problems including missing or shortened limbs, missing ears and hearing problems. All the survivors are now in their late 40s.
The cabinet files indicate the drug, which was used to treat morning sickness and resulted in thousands of children being born deformed, was withdrawn in December 1961 by pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal.
The Department of Health did not notify doctors and hospitals until July 1962.