PARENTS for Justice is urging its members to boycott the State’s latest inquiry into the retention and use of dead children’s organs.

THE State has paid in excess of €320 million in recent years for tribunals, commissions and inquiries, new figures have revealed.

The Government today appointed a medical lawyer to hold a limited public inquiry into the illegal retention of children’s organs by hospitals.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney is due to meet the Parents for Justice group today to discuss the stalled investigation into the retention of children's organs by Irish hospitals.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Health Mary Harney is reportedly due to receive the Dunne Inquiry’s final report later today.

TANAISTE Mary Harney is to bring proposals to Cabinet shortly which will allow the organ retention scandal inquiry to be completed by an expert, her spokesman said yesterday.

Finance Minister Brian Cowen has told the Dáil the Government will make a decision next week on how to proceed with an investigation into the retention of children's organs by Irish hospitals.

PARENTS are furious the Dunne Inquiry into the organ retention controversy, which has already cost the taxpayer €20 million, is being wound up without a conclusive report.

THE State probe into the organ retention controversy has turned into a “monumental mess” that could politically damage the Government, a campaign group warned yesterday.

Hundreds of parents of children who had their organs illegally removed by hospitals have been betrayed by the Government because it won’t set up a public inquiry into the scandal, it was claimed today.

Minister for Health Mary Harney has confirmed that she plans to shut down the Dunne Inquiry into the retention of children's organs by Irish hospitals.

THE State’s five-year inquiry into the organ retention scandal may not be able to complete its work because a senior member of the investigation who quit his post has not been replaced.

MINISTER for Health Mary Harney has yet to be told when the first report by the State’s five-year inquiry into the organ retention scandal will be on her desk.

The Government has reportedly set a series of deadlines for the introduction of new fee structures for lawyers working at tribunals of inquiry.

Health Minister Micheál Martin insisted today that the controversial investigation into an organ retention scandal must continue.

MORE than 60 calls a day were logged by a national helpline set up to deal with concerns about the organ retention controversy in its first week of operation.

PARENTS seeking details of post-mortem procedures carried out on their children have been refused access to records despite making requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

THE number of deceased patients whose pituitary glands were supplied to a Danish pharmaceutical firm was three times greater than revealed earlier this week.

It has been claimed that more pharmaceutical companies and more hospitals were involved in the trade of dead children’s organs than first thought.

THE Dunne Inquiry into organ retention by hospitals began hearings in March 2001, two years after the issue became a heated public controversy.

A Dublin maternity hospital is being accused of giving parents whose babies died the wrong bodies back.

A MOTHER whose child’s organs were retained by a hospital without her consent has been given High Court leave to sue the State over its handling of the scandal.

THOUSANDS of families believe that organs have been removed from their dead relatives without their consent, according to Parents for Justice.

The Parents for Justice group, which withdrew from the Dunne Inquiry which was set up to examine the retention of organs during post mortem examinations, yesterday reiterated its call that the inquiry be established on a statutory basis.

A STATUTORY inquiry has been demanded into revelations that hundreds of brains from deceased adults were removed for research purposes without consent.

Health Minister Micheál Martin has been accused of becoming increasingly isolated because of his stance in maintaining the Dunne Inquiry into organ retention.

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin is under mounting pressure to establish a statutory inquiry into the organ retention scandal after 50 more families sued the State for damages.

PARENTS at the centre of the organ retention scandal will draw up a plan of action to break the impasse in the investigation next week.

The parents of children whose organs were retained by Irish hospitals without consent have begun withdrawing documentation from the inquiry set up to investigate the scandal.

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin has been accused of keeping a report on the State inquiry into the organ retention scandal under wraps.

The Parents for Justice Group will urge parents who co-operated with the non-statutory Dunne Inquiry to withdraw their statements later today.

ALL families involved in the organ retention scandal are being urged to pull out of the State inquiry into the affair.

FIFTEEN families, whose deceased children’s organs were removed without parental permission, have handed over files to the gardaí for criminal investigation.

MANAGEMENT of the Dublin hospital at the centre of an organ retention scandal has been accused of underhand dealings after it emerged that blanket indemnity had been sought for staff prior to an inquiry.

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin said yesterday there would be a statutory inquiry into the children’s organ retention scandal but that switching to it before the Dunne Inquiry is completed would be pointless.

HOSPITALS may face criminal prosecution in the organ retention scandal for suspected breaches of legislation governing post mortem procedures and death registrations.

THE decision

Representatives of parents whose children's organs were retained by Irish hospitals have decided to cease co-operation with the inquiry established to investigate the scandal.

A GROUP of parents whose dead children’s organs were removed without their consent may take court action if Health Minister Michaél Martin fails to give full powers to an inquiry into the scandal.

The interim report of the inquiry into the retention of children’s organs by Irish hospitals has sparked a negative reaction from more than 2,000 parents.

The Parents for Justice group is due to meet officials from the Dunne Inquiry today to discuss its ongoing investigation into the unauthorised removal of organs from dead babies.