Organ probe report being ‘hidden’

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

The charge was made yesterday by Parents for Justice, the support group for more than 800 families who discovered their deceased children’s organs were removed and retained by hospitals without their knowledge or consent.

The interim report by inquiry chairperson Anne Dunne SC was given to Mr Martin in October.

Parents for Justice, who are seeking forced closure to the inquiry because of delays in reaching the promised statutory phase of the investigation, have asked to see a copy of the report under the Freedom of Information Act.

Group spokesperson Fionnuala O’Reilly said they believed the minister and his officials were doing their best to keep a lid on the facts that have emerged from the inquiry.

“If they are refusing to publish the report, what is in it that they want to hide,” she asked.

Ms O’Reilly said the inquiry was the minister’s first major act on taking office but it had lost credibility.

In early October Parents for Justice walked away from the Dunne Inquiry and at their EGM on Saturday, all their members agreed to request the return of all personal documents submitted to the inquiry to date.

Ms O’Reilly said the minister needed to realise that the inquiry was now over and he must act accordingly.

“It would appear that in Ireland, if you have misappropriation of money or shady land deals then a full public inquiry is set up, but when human body parts are involved no one wants to know.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Children said the only request to see a copy of the act was the one made under the Freedom of Information Act.

Parents for Justice later countered the spokesperson’s claim pointing out that two department officials had been asked on October 3 last by telephone and in person for copies of the report.

The group had expected to be given a copy of the report the following week but that did not happen.

Ms O’Reilly said it was true that they did not ask the minister for a copy of the report when they met him later in October but it was not foremost on their minds at the time.

“What we wanted to know then was whether he was ready to put the inquiry on a statutory footing. If the question of the report was of concern to him he had an opportunity to present a copy to the families at that point. He didn’t.”

Mr Martin plans to meet Parents for Justice members next week on a day yet to be agreed.

Last weekend the group announced that they had appointed a new legal team and were embarking on a more radical strategy in its bid to secure a statutory inquiry with the powers to seek documents and compel witnesses to attend.

To date, only six of the 11 major hospitals at the centre of the scandal have furnished the inquiry with information, despite the fact that it has been in session for 19 months.