Sodium valproate inquiry
Deputy Conway-Walsh pressed for the promised sodium valproate inquiry to go to Cabinet, saying affected families have waited too long. The Minister said he would refer the matter to the Department of Health for a timeline.
My question relates to the sodium valproate inquiry. The Minister knows it is more than two years since that was promised by the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, in the House. The officials from the Department have told Organisation Anticonvulsant Syndromes Ireland, or OACS Ireland, and Epilepsy Ireland that the draft terms of reference for this inquiry were to go to Cabinet before Christmas. Families have been ignored by their own Government for more than 50 years and it is absolutely beyond time that this was brought to Cabinet. Can the Minister tell me when it is going to be brought to Cabinet and the inquiry started?
Comment on this
Again, I will have to refer to the Department of Health and the Minister and ask them to respond on what the timeline is.