The Finlay Tribunal was set up to compensate people infected with Hepatitis C as a result of being given contaminated anti-D human immunoglobulin by the Blood Transfusion Service Board between the years 1970 and 1994.
The Finlay Tribunal identified a number of Pelican House staff who had failed to recall contaminated batches of anti-D and didn't investigate claims that plasma had come from a jaundiced patient."
The report did not make any recommendations about legal action. After studying tribunal transcripts and a Garda report, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Eamonn Barnes decided that no action is to be taken against any of those involved in the Hepatitis C scandal in which up to sixteen hundred people were infected through contaminated blood products. Mr Barnes says that prosecutions are not possible under criminal law as it stands at present to go ahead with a prosecution.
Minister for Health Brian Cowen TD says it would be inappropriate for him to comment on Mr Barnes's decision as the DPP is an independent body. However, the Positive Action Group have a lot to say about the ruling issued by the DPP.
They are shocked and bitterly disappointed that no one is to be prosecuted for what they call this awful tragedy.
At a news conference Jane O'Brien and Paula Kealy of the Positive Action Group said that the negligence of the Blood Transfusion Board was clearly identified in the report published by the Finlay Tribunal. They said that the conclusion of the report was that responsibility for the contamination rested with named personnel who worked with the Blood Transfusion Board. The group said that it seems that people exposed by the enquiry can avoid being held publicly accountable.
The Positive Action Group said that it is aware of only one other case of Hepatitis C infection as a result of contaminated blood products. The case occurred in East Germany in 1978 and the healthcare personnel involved were prosecuted and jailed.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 21 October 1997. The reporter is George Devlin.
