The Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS) "will not be rushed" into making an incomplete final submission to the Lindsay Tribunal, the society's senior administrator has said.
Ms Rosemary Daly was reacting to yesterday's decision by Judge Alison Lindsay that the IHS would be granted 10 extra days to deliver its final submission. It had sought an extension of five weeks, until December 12th. Its submission must now be delivered on November 15th.
"We're very disappointed with the judgment, once again," said Ms Daly. "We were realistic in our application. We will work towards it, but we don't think it's a realistic deadline."
Asked what the IHS would do if its final submission was not ready for November 15th, she said: "We'll have to deal with that then . . . but we are not, not going to put in an incomplete submission and we are not going to be rushed into doing something that does not reflect the concerns of our members." The IHS represents 197 people infected with either or both Hepatitis C and HIV.
Delivering the application for an extension, Mr Martin Hayden SC, for the IHS, said that although the society had known since late July of the November 15th deadline, many of its legal team were occupied through the summer due to holiday commitments. "It is also clear," he said, "that since the tribunal resumed public hearings on September 17th, the IHS has been greatly occupied in preparing 20 out of 23 personal testimony witnesses."
The society had participated in every aspect of the inquiry, unlike other parties. Its task throughout the inquiry and, now, in preparing its final submission was more onerous than for other parties.
The final submission would be the victims' last chance to have their grievances aired. The application was opposed by a number of other parties who said they were anxious that the inquiry be concluded.
Judge Lindsay said she thought the 14 weeks initially given to all parties to prepare final submission was "adequate".
However, she said she would begin taking submissions on November 14th from tribunal counsel.
