Contaminated blood victims: 'Hopeful' for support parity
NI victims get less financial support than in England, Scotland and Wales
HAemophilia patients who developed Hepatitis and HIV from infected blood, say they must get the same financial support as those in the rest of the UK.
Victims of the scandal receive financial support but in Northern Ireland the payment is less than in England, Scotland and Wales.
In the 70s and 80s, around 5000 patients with hemophilia were given contaminated blood by the NHS which resulted in the devastating conditions.
A public inquiry into the scandal began in 2019.
In April 2019, an increase in financial support was announced for victims in England t but that didn't extend to those in Northern Ireland.
Paul Kirkpatrick is from the group Haemophilia NI which met with the Health Minister on Thursday:
"What we all want is to be treated equally.
"Robin Swann, in fairness to him, wanted to hear the stories, he took the time out to listen.
"It was a very emotional meeting, at one stage they had to bring a counselor in because people were breaking down quite frequently...when telling their story."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said:
"The increase in regular payments to infected people in England, announced in April 2019, led to a divergence with the Northern Ireland scheme and the Minister is very aware of the hurt this divergence has caused to those affected in Northern Ireland.
"The Minister held very constructive discussions with the groups today. He is committed to providing better support to the NI victims of the contaminated blood scandal.
"Firm assurances have been given that the recently allocated £1m will be spent in full on support for NI victims during this financial year.
"This £1m will not by itself secure parity of support with victims across the UK. Support schemes differ across regions.
"UK-wide discussions are continuing on how to achieve greater parity throughout the UK. Minister Swann is fully committed to these discussions."