The Minister for Health is to be pressed this week to establish a public inquiry into the controversy surrounding the removal of organs from dead children without parental permission.
Ms Fionnuala O'Reilly, from Carlow, a spokeswoman for Parent for Justice, the group which is lobbying for information about the controversial practice involving babies at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Dublin, said yesterday she was "very hopeful" Mr Cowen would agree to an inquiry. "We feel very encouraged by the fact that the Minister did not rule out that route last week. We are very heartened also by the support coming from members of the group." The meeting with Mr Cowen is expected to take place in Dublin on Wednesday. Ms O'Reilly was speaking after a meeting in Dublin of 200 parents. "A committee was chosen and given a mandate to meet the Minister and deal with the Department of Health on this issue," she said.
"There were feelings among those present of grief, anger and betrayal. The view was we must continue to push for a full public inquiry."
She said those attending the meeting had also sought a helpline to provide information for relatives. While it would be manned by personnel from the hospital, the proposal was that it would be under the Minister's control. The Department had guaranteed funding for the group so that it could continue to liaise with parents who found themselves "in this difficult and distressing situation", she said.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Tom Moffat, recently confirmed that the organs of 98 children were still being kept in Our Lady's Hospital. The hospital has said organ or tissue removal was necessary in certain post-mortem examinations to establish the cause of death. That was the universal practice of all pathologists in all hospitals and did not imply the retention of organs for research.
Ms O'Reilly said yesterday that an ecumenical service, commemorating children, "whose organs have been removed, retained or incinerated," would be held in the Pro Cathedral, Dublin, at 3.30 p.m. on Sunday, January 16th.
