Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2026
1053. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if her Department, or any agency working on its behalf, ask families to sign a non-disclosure agreement in relation to compensation that was received as part of the Hep C/HIV scandal [11629/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have been assured by the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation Tribunal that no request of any kind regarding non-disclosure is made of an applicant by the Tribunal.
Application forms are freely available on the Tribunal’s website for inspection by members of the public. I draw particular attention to the Certificate of Authority which each applicant is asked to sign when submitting a claim. This certificate authorises certain bodies to supply documents to the Tribunal relevant to the applicant’s case. It also authorises the Tribunal to notify these bodies about the case. It does not impose any duty of non-disclosure on the applicant.
Under section 3(12) of the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Act 1997, the Tribunal must conduct its hearings otherwise than in public. In line with this statutory requirement, the Tribunal operates on the basis that all data submitted to it is confidential, a right which vests in the individual applicant. If the Tribunal proposed to contact any of the authorities mentioned in the signed Certificate of Authority, it would do so having informed the applicant and/or their legal advisers that it intended to do so. This is established practice.
The right to confidentiality which vests in the applicant is subject to the discretion reserved to the Tribunal in the Certificate of Authority. Applicants may waive their right to confidentiality if they wish. Any such direction or indication by an applicant, would be requested by the Tribunal to be submitted in writing.
I also wish to state that neither I, as Minister, nor Department of Health officials have any remit to intervene with or direct the Tribunal in any way that would compromise or undermine its independence and integrity.
