Few cases involving former State pathologist Prof John Harbison were awaiting trial, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell suggested in the Dáil last night.
He said his department had no way of determining how many cases might be outstanding, as the bringing of prosecutions, retrials etc was entirely the remit of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
"But, given that Prof Harbison has not performed any new post-mortems for over three years, it seems reasonable to infer that there is no significant number of current cases still awaiting trial."
Mr McDowell said he would explore carefully various options with current State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy in the coming days, including the suggestion that State pathologists could operate in pairs so as to allow for a fall-back witness in the event of one not being available.
The Minister said the first suggestion he received that illness might prevent Prof Harbison testifying in further cases was within the past two months when a journalist made inquiries on the subject to his department.
"On receipt of this inquiry, I was informed that Prof Harbison had indeed become unwell and might not be able to testify. My understanding is that he recently withdrew from the Brian Murphy case on the advice of his doctor."
Mr McDowell said nobody had suggested that Prof Harbison was in any way unfit or unwell at the time he carried out the postmortem or made his findings in early September 2000.
"It would be wrong to infer, as Deputy Pat Rabbitte seems to have done, that Prof Harbison's evidence was wrong or that he would, if in good health, have been unable to defend and validate his original findings. I assume that Prof Harbison prepared a report on Brian Murphy's post-mortem in 2000 and that he was examined and cross-examined about that report at the trial in February 2004."
It was equally wrong, said Mr McDowell, to suggest that the department was aware of any problem with Prof Harbison's health before such problems became known to the office of the DPP. "I have never been given any information which would lead me to believe that any testimony in any other case given by Prof Harbison is suspect or unreliable."
The Minister was replying, on the adjournment, to a series of questions on the fall-out from the abandonment of the planned retrial of Dermot Laide for the manslaughter of Brian Murphy because of Prof Harbison's illness.
They were tabled by Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, Fine Gael justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe and Fianna Fáil Dublin North-West TD Pat Carey.
Earlier, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said it would be "stupid" for him to give an assurance that there was no case under way, or that might ultimately go to the court of appeal, relating to Prof Harbison's health.
Rejecting calls by Mr Rabbitte to give an assurance on the record that there should be no such case, Mr Ahern said it would be totally unwise to speculate.