I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £414,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on 31st day of December, 1975, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Health (including Oifig an Árd-Chlaraitheora) and certain services administered by that Office, including grants to Health Boards, miscellaneous grants, and certain grants-in-aid.
The purpose of introducing this supplementary estimate in advance of the main Estimate is to secure the agreement of the House to the creation of a new subhead relating to payments to children with disabilities which resulted from use by the mothers of the children concerned of the drug thalidomide.
The Government announced shortly after taking office that they accepted in principle that they should help to augment the assistance to Irish thalidomide children and their parents from the German compensation fund. The compensation from the German fund consists of a lump sum payment of between about £1,300 and £4,200 and a monthly pension for life ranging from £25 to £75 approximately, depending on the severity of disablement. The Government have decided to pay each child in addition to this, further sums equal to four times the German lump sum, plus a monthly allowance equal to the German allowance. This means that from both sources the children will receive lump sums ranging from about £6,500 at the minimum level of disability to about £21,000 at the maximum and monthly allowances totalling £50 at the minimum and £150 at the maximum. Both the Irish Government and the German payments will be disregarded for income tax purposes and so will not affect the tax liability of either the children or their parents.
The Irish allowance will be reviewed from time to time in line with reviews of other social welfare payments—a significant consideration in these inflationary times. The provision which I am asking the House to approve for the purpose, under the new subhead, in the current financial year is £414,000, to cover the lump sums and the monthly allowances for 1975 and a very small amount of past expenses incurred by the parents.
I think it is generally agreed that the level of financial assistance decided upon by the Government has been generous. And it is by no means the full extent of the Government's commitment to these children. The matter is not one to be disposed of simply by a cash allocation. There are problems for these children and their families across a wide spectrum of needs for which they will require special support and assistance in varying degrees and for varying periods of their lives. The reports of the Irish Thalidomide Medical Board which I established to advise me on the degree of disability and special needs of the children have provided a blueprint on which to base our consideration of how such problems as exist can best be dealt with. Full eligibility for health services has been granted to all of the children, without regard to means in any case. On top of these, particular attention has been given to the matters such as the supply of prostheses, educational aids and other appliances which will facilitate their everyday life.
As well as provision for these more obviously physical needs there will be more difficult and delicate demands as regards advising and helping these children to lead the most independent and full life consistent with their degree of handicap. These problems will be especially evident over the vital, self-conscious years of adolescence when their education and training are determining to a decisive degree the future pattern of their lives. Because the range of needs is so wide, I have asked the National Rehabilitation Board to supervise the implementation of the Irish Thalidomide Medical Board's Reports, in consultation with health boards and other authorities and organisations concerned.
There will be no charges to the parents or their children in respect of these services and no element of them is reflected in the £414,000 which I am now seeking. I hope the action we have taken and are pledged to will bring some measure of peace of mind to the parents of these children and allow them to look to their future with more optimism and less anxiety.