Health: Contaminated Blood Products

Lord Archer of Sandwell Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd June 2010 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, perhaps I may begin by thanking the noble Lord for his kind words. I am sure he knows how seriously I take these matters. I hope he can take as read my wish to see that those whose health is suffering as a result of this tragedy are properly looked after by the NHS. I know that the noble Lord will understand that we are looking at the court judgment. It is early days yet, but we are considering very carefully what the court has said and I cannot be of more help to him at this stage than I already have been in my earlier Answer. I stand ready to talk to him, either inside or outside this Chamber, on these important matters.

[Lord Archer of Sandwell]

My Lords, I endorse my noble friend’s congratulations to the noble Earl. Do the Government accept that the scale of payments to victims in Ireland was not a response to criticisms from an official inquiry, as the scale had been decided and implemented long before either official inquiry reported? Furthermore, is it now accepted that to argue that there has been no similar criticism from an official inquiry in this country is, to say the least, disingenuous, as successive Governments have failed to appoint one?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, obviously, I cannot speak on statements made by Ministers of the former Administration. However, I can confirm to the noble and learned Lord that the compensation scheme in the Republic of Ireland was set up in the light of evidence of mistakes made by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service Board. That has been confirmed to us by officials in the Republic of Ireland’s Department of Health and Children. It is important to understand that the events that gave rise to the people in Ireland becoming infected through contaminated blood transfusions were quite dissimilar to the sequence of events that occurred here. There were specific circumstances in Ireland, and quite different circumstances in the UK.