Haemophiliacs seek change in compensation appeal rules

The Irish Haemophilia Society has called on Health Minister Micheal Martin to change the rules of appeal for Hepatitis C sufferers who received compensation from a state tribunal in the late 1990s.

The call follows a Supreme Court ruling this morning which said that those who accepted the compensation awards do not have a right to appeal the level of the awards in the courts.

Many of those who contracted Hepatitis C through contaminated blood products rejected the tribunal's awards and subsequent secured higher pay-outs during individual court cases.

Speaking after today's ruling, IHS chairman Michael Davitt said: "It's a technicality. It's as simple as that. These people have been excluded on a technicality and Micheal Martin can change that."