No details from department on stand-off with pathologist

The Department of Justice has refused to provide details on why two hospitals and a city mortuary will not work with one of Ireland’s most senior state pathologists.

An official response to a Freedom of Information request from the Irish Examiner declined to disclose the issues behind the mystery stand-off — which means bodies must be moved from the facilities for autopsies when the official is working.

As previously reported in June, Cork University Hospital (CUH), Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan, and the Dublin City Mortuary have declined to work with Dr Khalid Jabbar, the deputy state pathologist — who was appointed on a near- €200,000 a year contract in 2010 — since late 2010.