Sensitive issue needs resolution

THE decision

They are openly frustrated by the failure of the Dunne Inquiry to come up with answers after sitting in private for 18 months. They are now demanding specific proposals from Health Minister Micheál Martin relating to the inquiry’s statutory phase.

To his credit, Minister Martin has been sympathetic in his personal approach to the organ retention scandal. In the interests of justice, however, he should move to give statutory powers to the ongoing investigation into the retention of organs in post mortems without the consent of next of kin.

Parents fear the Supreme Court’s decision in the Abbeylara case will limit an Oireachtas committee’s powers to consider the inquiry findings. They want the current investigation placed on a statutory footing, empowering it to compel witnesses and seek papers.

This call for a fully fledged statutory inquiry will be loudly reiterated at a meeting of 2,000 members this weekend.

Given the highly sensitive and personal nature of this issue, the sooner the Minister and the parents resolve their differences the better for all concerned.