The Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste have taken \u201cpersonal responsibility\u201d to ensure the resolution programme for people affected by thalidomide is completed, the representative group has said following a meeting with the politicians.<\/p>\n
Thalidomide<\/a> was developed in Germany<\/a> in the 1950s as a sedative or tranquiliser but was later widely promoted as a drug to treat morning sickness during pregnancy<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was withdrawn from most markets in 1961 following widespread evidence of its link to birth defects, but was still sold in Ireland until 1964.<\/p>\n Many children were born without limbs or with shortened limbs, with hearing and vision impairment and injuries to internal organs.<\/p>\n In September 2024, the Government appointed retired High Court Judge Mr Justice Paul Gilligan to engage with thalidomide survivors in what is known as the thalidomide resolution process.<\/p>\n However, the process reached an impasse and there is an issue around 12 \u201cunacknowledged\u201d thalidomide survivors whose mothers took the drug after it had been officially withdrawn.<\/p>\n The Irish Thalidomide Association (ITA) met with Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> and T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris<\/a> on Thursday afternoon to advance the resolution process.<\/p>\n Speaking after the meeting, Finola Cassidy, ITA spokeswoman and thalidomide survivor, said it was a \u201cgood meeting\u201d but \u201cit was so overdue that we had an awful lot to say\u201d.<\/p>\n The Irish Thalidomide Association had a meeting with Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin and T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris about a long delayed scheme to provide compensation. <\/p>\n Both Mr Harris and Mr Martin have taken personal responsibility to end this process, the ITA said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been looking for political responsibility on this for a long time, because, you know, they are the people who can fix this once and for all,\u201d Ms Cassidy said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had some issues that we have probably a better understanding with the two sides on, and that needed to be secured.\u201d<\/p>\n The group will again meet with Mr Martin and Mr Harris in one month. Ms Cassidy said it is hoped this results in \u201cserious movement on the promises\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe saga is going on for six decades,\u201d she said. \u201cThe mothers are getting older; we have very few left. We\u2019ve lost some very, very dear friends and we really need closure at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms Cassidy said there was no indication as to timelines on when the resolution process will be complete, adding \u201cthe issues are too complex\u201d.<\/p>\n The ITA has repeatedly said it wants a State apology, statutory supports and a fair compensation scheme to be introduced.<\/p>\n There are about 40 thalidomide survivors in Ireland, all in their 60s, who the association says should be fully recognised. A handful of mothers of thalidomide survivors are also still alive, some of whom are in their 90s.<\/p>\n In 1975, a financial settlement was reached between Ireland and Gr\u00fcnenthal, the German maker of thalidomide. However, the ITA has consistently stated this agreement was made at a time when those affected were not expected to survive for long. It says the complexity of their health needs decades later could not be anticipated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste have taken \u201cpersonal responsibility\u201d to ensure the resolution programme for people affected by thalidomide…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[134,524,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-110695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-medication","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-medication","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}