Thalidomide bonus cut will save paltry €9,000
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THE Government has cancelled the Christmas bonus for the country's 32 thalidomide victims to save less than €9,000 for the exchequer.
The amount is the equivalent of running the government jet for three hours -- or less than the cost of flying John O'Donoghue TD and his wife to the Cannes Film Festival during his six-day travel odyssey in May 2006.
The drug, which was supposed to combat morning sickness, left 32 Irish children born in the late 1950s and early 1960s with horrific birth defects.The victims are now aged between 46 and 50.
They were subsequently provided for through a compensation scheme, which gives them tax-free payments ranging from €6,000 to €12,900 annually.
But Health Minister Mary Harney has confirmed they will lose their double-payment 'Christmas bonus' on the grounds that it is being abolished for all on social welfare.
The thalidomide victims receive monthly payments ranging from €514 to €1,109 depending on their level of disability and their Christmas bonus is usually just one week of this -- between €129 and €277. This means the maximum amount to be saved by cancelling the Christmas bonus for the 32 people in the scheme is €8,875.
Cancelled
The Irish Thalidomide Association points out that the compensation scheme set up in 1975 was funded by the Department of Health and was not a social welfare payment. Its chairwoman Maggie Woods, who was born with short arms and legs after her mother was given thalidomide, said it is likely the bonus will be cut.
"I wouldn't be happy about it. I can't understand why they've decided to do it," she said.
The first Christmas bonus payment for victims of thalidomide was made in 2000 and backdated to 1992 following a review by the Ombudsman. The State Claims Agency is currently examining claims for a rise from the thalidomide sufferers, who believe the lump sum compensation and monthly allowance provided by the State do not provide enough to cover the cost of their increasing health problems.
The Department of Health did not respond to a question about why the Christmas bonus payments for thalidomide sufferers was cancelled in order to save less than €9,000.
It pointed out the monthly payments to Irish victims of thalidomide have been linked to movements in social welfare rates since the early 1990s.
Ms Harney has been questioned about the issue in the Dail by Labour TD Ruairi Quinn and Fine Gael TDs Tom Sheahan and Olwyn Enright.
She said cancelling the €200m Christmas bonus for all welfare recipients will help to stabilise public finances.
- MICHAEL BRENNAN
