Parents may seek prosecutions over organs

The support group for parents whose children's organs were kept without their knowledge or consent following post-mortems said…

The support group for parents whose children's organs were kept without their knowledge or consent following post-mortems said today they may call for criminal prosecutions against the hospitals involved.

Minister for Health Mr Martin, who held a a two-and-a-half hour meeting with Parents for Justice last night.

Last night, Parents for Justice withdrew from the Dunne inquiry, the private investigation set up to examine the issue, following a two-and-a-half hour meeting with the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin.

They had been seeking a statutory inquiry on the matter but were informed by Mr Martin that a statutory inquiry would not be possible till 2004 at the earliest.

A spokeswoman for the group, Ms Fionnuala O'Reilly, said: "In the absence of specific statutory proposals we have no alternative but to reluctantly and sadly withdraw from the Dunne Inquiry".

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Ms O'Reilly told ireland.comParents for Justice were now looking at all avenues that were open to them, including calling for criminal charges against certain hospitals for breaches of the Coroner's Act.

She said that she had heard of many cases where parents were informed by hospitals that a post-mortem had to be carried out on their deceased children because of an order by the Dublin City Coroner.

"No consent or permission is required for a post-mortem if there is an order from the Dublin City Coroner.

"After contacting the coroner the parents found out that the coroner knew nothing about their cases and had never signed any orders for those post-mortems, she said.

Parents for Justice will hold an extraordinary general meeting on Sunday, October 20th, to seek instruction from their members.