The Parents for Justice Group, which is seeking a full public inquiry into the retention of organs of dead children, has secured leave from the High Court to challenge what it claims are limited terms of reference for the existing inquiry.
In its judicial review proceedings, the group is seeking a declaration that the inquiry as carried out from April 2000 until March 31st this year by senior counsel Anne Dunne was improperly conducted.
It also wants to quash the Minister for Health's decision last May appointing law lecturer Dr Deirdre Madden to complete the inquiry on new and, the group claims, more limited terms of reference.
Dr Madden has been directed to give a report on postmortem practice and policy within the State by December 21st. The group claims this is merely a continuation of an improperly conducted inquiry.
The group is challenging the decision to exclude from the inquiry's remit the concerns of parents of stillborn children and parents of deceased children aged over 12 years.
Mr Justice Michael Peart, who granted leave to the group to bring its judicial review, was told that the new terms of reference for the inquiry excluded the interests of approximately half of those directly affected by the practice of organ retention.
The initial inquiry by Ms Dunne finished last March. Ms Dunne had delivered boxes of information to the Minister for Health but no final report has been published to date.
The group claims that in continuing the inquiry and in limiting its scope, the Minister for Health has acted in an "unreasonable manner". It contends the inquiry is of such urgent public importance in relation to the restoration of public confidence in the provision of health services that it should be conducted as a tribunal or statutory public inquiry.
The court was told yesterday that Parents for Justice had been assured that in the unlikely event of the Dunne inquiry not meeting its objectives with regard to determining the facts, the Minister for Health would pursue the establishment of an alternative form of inquiry.
In terminating the initial inquiry last March, the Minister acknowledged that the inquiry had failed to determine the facts, the group contends.