The legal team of the National Drugs Advisory Board has rejected criticism by the Irish Haemophilia Society as "unwarranted and unjust".
Tony Aston, Senior Counsel for the body, which makes recommendations to the Department of Health on the licensing of new medicines, defended his client's role during the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s.
He said the Board acted in a responsible, adequate and timely fashion in assessing and recommending the introduction of virally inactivated blood products.
The Irish Haemophilia Society has accused the board of being ineffective, and rubber-stamping research submitted by international pharmaceutical companies.
Mr Aston asserted that the NDAB could not be faulted for quickly introducing virally inactivated blood products, as any delay would not have been in the interests of patients.
