The Irish Haemophilia Society is to seek a judicial review of a decision taken by the Chairwoman of the Tribunal investigating the infection of haemophiliacs with HIV and hepatitis C. At the Tribunal's second preliminary hearing last December, Judge Alison Lindsay, ruled that she was precluded from granting the Society an interim order for legal costs. Counsel for the Society, Martin Hayden, Junior Counsel, had argued that both the Department of Health and the Blood Transfusion Service Board were paying their legal teams from central funds on an ongoing basis, and his client should also be in a position to do so.
When the decision went against the Society, the Department of Health said that the Government was prepared to consider paying the Society's legal fees. However a spokeswoman for the Society said that their offer of two thirds of their barristers fees and £400 for solicitor fees on days the Tribunal sits is insufficient.
The Society argues that it also needs to pay for expert assistance to play a full role in the Tribunal, and so is going to try to secure a judicial review of Judge Lindsay's decision next week.
62 haemophiliacs have now died from hepatitis C and HIV which they contracted by unknowingly injecting themselves with a contaminated blood clotting agent. The Lindsay Tribunal is charged with establishing how and why this happened and also investigating the response of state agencies.
