Families in 11th bid for meeting over retained organs

A CAMPAIGN group representing more than 1,000 families, who discovered that their deceased children’s organs were retained without their consent, yesterday hand-delivered their 11th letter seeking a meeting with Health Minister Mary Harney.

Parents for Justice (PFJ) is still pushing for a full statutory inquiry and has been seeking to discuss the issue with Ms Harney since last August, without success.

The minister told Socialist Party leader Joe Higgins in a Dáil reply on February 22 last that she intended toorganise a meeting with the group at the earliest available opportunity but has yet to get back to the group with a date for this.

PFJ spokeswoman Charlotte Yeates said parents knew nothing more than they did seven years ago when the Dunne Inquiry was established.

“We are not talking about beef or planning here, we are talking about human beings and an awful lot of people are still hurting. Ms Harney has talked about bringing closure for these families but that is not going to happen until she addresses this properly,” she said.

The group said it believes the Government should have pulled the plug on the€20 million-plus inquiry as soon as it became apparent it was a complete waste of taxpayers’ money.

PFJ withdrew from the inquiry in October 2002, when the cost had already run to €5.4m because they believed that it was failing to do its job.

The Dunne Inquiry, which began its work in March 2001, was wound up by the Government in March 2005.

Two months later, the Government appointed legal expert Deirdre Madden to prepare a report on key issues relating to post-mortem practices and procedures by December 2006.

Ms Madden’s report, which cost €460,000, was presented on the due date.

PFJ claimed it was clear from the report by Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell that former Health Minister Micheál Martin knew the inquiry was not going to work in October 2002 when he refused their request to put it on a statutory footing.

Ms Yeates said the group wanted a statutory inquiry with the powers to compel witnesses to come forward and give evidence.

“The kind of inquiry we want should not take too long to complete because most of the work has already been done,” she said.