Dáil Sketch/Marie O'Halloran:Dr Liam Twomey is no dumb country boy but that's how Tánaiste Mary Harney made him feel.
The Fine Gael health spokesman was upset that just 90 minutes before the controversial hepatitis C legislation was to be voted on, the Minister for Health mentioned "pertinent legal issues" that she felt justified her position on the Bill.
Even more annoying for the Co Wexford GP was that just 30 minutes before the final vote, she introduced the opinion of a medical expert on the tests used to establish whether someone has hepatitis C.
Prof William Hall, head of the national virus reference laboratory at UCD, said that the tests used had been shown to have excellent sensitivity in the identification of the virus.
Dr Twomey had great respect for Prof Hall, and he believed his opinions were well worth considering, but was annoyed at the Tánaiste waving the professor's opinion in the Opposition's face so late in the day, and "for us to be expected to believe it, like dumb country boys".
They should have been given time to consider it.
"She hopes we will all disappear out of here at teatime and that this issue will disappear with us. I think she knows she is wrong," he added with the portent of an issue that will not go away.
The echoes of the first hepatitis C legislation, introduced in 1997, were sounding loudly in the chamber.
Several mentions were made of then minister Michael Noonan's decision to challenge a claim by the late Brigid McCole and the knock-on effect on his political career.
The Tánaiste was warned that it was back to "groundhog day".
Kildare North TD Catherine Murphy pointed to the calmness and reasonableness behind the arguments made during the debate.
"I am surprised the power of the arguments has not hit home."
The debate was also participative as the four groups representing those affected by hepatitis C watched from the spectators' gallery.
They nodded emphatically when Labour's health spokeswoman Liz McManus said while the numbers of people affected were negligible, "those involved are human beings. They were contaminated and poisoned by the State, which we need to remember."
They laughed when she spoke of how prickly consultants could get about their professional reputations.
And they shook their heads and said "No" when the Tánaiste said amendments to include extra tests for hepatitis C had been circulated to them on Wednesday night.
Ms Harney was reasonable but emphatic when she said that clarity was required on the issue because when a claimant was refused compensation by the tribunals for depression and fatigue, it was granted in a court case.
"We cannot contemplate a situation where by virtue of fatigue and depression, which can be caused by many factors, compensation of the order of €250,000 would be paid."
She wanted to provide reasonable compensation for hepatitis C victims, who could never be fully compensated.
But "we do not need to be experts to know the capacity in some quarters for seeking compensation".