Harney to be quizzed over organ inquiry findings

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney and the Attorney General (AG) will be asked to explain to Oireachtas members why findings have never been published from the Dunne Inquiry into the retention of children’s organs without the consent of their parents.

The inquiry was closed by Ms Harney in 2005 after overrunning its deadlines.

Parents for Justice, who campaign for the families of some of the 14,000 deceased people whose organs were removed during postmortems, said the inquiry cost €20 million but has not given them any answers.

The group told an the Oireachtas Committee yesterday the inquiry chairperson, Anne Dunne, provided Ms Harney with 54 boxes of information gathered from hospitals and other sources during the inquiry.

Ms Harney’s advice from the AG was this information should not be published.

Committee chairman John Moloney told Parents for Justice that Ms Harney will be questioned on this during her meeting with the committee on March 6.

“Subsequent to that I will look for a meeting from the AG who can brief members of the committee so we can get clarity on why that decision was taken,” he said.

Chairwoman of Parents for Justice Charlotte Yeates said: “Families whose loved ones’ organs have been detained without their knowledge or consent need to find the closure which the Government has promised for so long. But this can only be obtained by finding out exactly what happened in the past. We feel that the answers to some of our questions may lie within the 54 boxes of documents from the Dunne Inquiry and we want access to them.”

Parents for Justice will be closing their offices today after funding from the Health Service Executive was withdrawn.

Breda Butler of Parents for Justice said when the offices close the group will be left with no money and no information, almost 10 years after the scandal was first exposed.