The Minister for Health is to meet officials from the Irish Haemophilia Society next week to discuss their demands for the terms of reference of the Lindsay Tribunal to be expanded.
The Society has claimed that the Tribunal runs the risk of producing a "flawed report," unless the inquiry included the drugs firms responsible for making blood products which infected a majority of Irish haemophiliacs.
The IHS decided to seek the help of the Government after the Tribunal Chairwoman, Judge Alison Lindsay, ruled that she was precluded from examining the international drugs firms by her current terms of reference.
A spokesperson for the IHS said that they were "very happy" that the Minister had agreed to their urgent request for a meeting and "hoped" he would support their efforts in the Oireachtas.
Earlier this week, the death toll from contaminated blood products rose to 77 when a man with haemophilia died from an AIDS related illness brought on by HIV infection. In total, 252 Irish haemophiliacs were infected with Hepatitis C and HIV.
