Parents group criticises Dunne delay

LOBBY group Parents for Justice last night criticised the Government’s delay in making public the findings of the Dunne Inquiry into the babies’ organs retention scandal.

Amid public fury, Health Minister and Tánaiste Mary Harney was forced to concede that the report may not be the final chapter in the controversy.

Parents for Justice spokeswoman Fionnuala O’Reilly said the delay was an attempt to “whitewash the findings”.

With the report not likely to be made public for several weeks, she described the current debacle as a “monumental mess”.

Reiterating her group’s demand for a formal statutory inquiry, Ms O’Reilly said: “The inquiry doesn’t end here, some other form of inquiry is necessary.”

The support group, which was not given a copy of the findings, cancelled a press conference yesterday.

The group is adamant that the inquiry under senior counsel Anne Dunne has not brought concerned parents closer to the truth.

Parents for Justice withdrew its co-operation from the inquiry in 2002 after the Government refused to place the inquiry on a statutory footing.

Ms Harney was presented with the final report yesterday and said she would not make a detailed comment until she had read it.

Set up in 2000, the non-statutory inquiry had initially been tasked to report back within six months. The terms of reference encompassed a review of post-mortem policy, practice and procedure in all hospitals in the State since 1970 with particular reference to organ removal, retention, storage and disposal.

However, the inquiry was halted and wound up last month on an inconclusive footing at an estimated cost to the taxpayer of €20 million.

Ms Harney is expected to consult the Attorney General about the findings of the report before presenting it to Cabinet. A department spokesperson said the report would not be made public for several weeks.

However, Parents for Justice said the parents’ fear was that the report would not be published for fear of defamation actions by hospitals named.