Last year, the parents of 18 babies born at Cork University Maternity Hospital were informed that their children's organs were sent to Belgium for incineration, without their knowledge or consent. This happened on two occasions between March and April 2020. The bereaved parents had believed that the organs of their babies, who had been subject to autopsy, would be cremated or buried in a sensitive and dignified manner and that they would be contacted before this happened. As we now know, none of that happened. These revelations were met with understandable public outrage and we can only ever imagine the extreme hurt and distress that these families have experienced.

A review of practices at Cork University Maternity Hospital was commenced at that time and a HSE internal audit to establish the organ-retention and disposal practices at public hospitals across the board. That audit, according to media reports, reveals that the inappropriate disposal of organs was still in use at that time, at University Hospital Limerick and our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. Incredibly, the same month that the review got under way into the scandal at Cork University Maternity Hospital, the organs of two babies born in University Hospital Limerick were sent for incineration, again to Belgium.

The investigation has also uncovered that multiple public hospitals across the State have retained organs from children for more than the one year specified by HSE policy. This happened in hospitals in Dublin, Tullamore, Limerick, Waterford and Port Laoise. At Crumlin children's hospital, the organs of one child were kept, it seems, for more than 20 years. The breaches of care and dignity with regard to the treatment of organs are widespread and these revelations have emerged when the families affected by the initial scandal at Cork University Maternity Hospital are still waiting for answers.

These parents have been told on four separate occasions that there will be a delay in giving them the report of the review team despite the fact that the review is complete. These are parents who lost their babies in tragic circumstances and had to endure the heartache of hearing that their child's organs were disposed of, alongside medical waste. Ms Katie Quilligan is one of those. Her son, James, was one of the 18 babies and she says:

we are still waiting for answers... I don’t think I’ll be able to fully accept or process what happened until we get those answers. Waiting is like going through the grieving process all over again ... the HSE is letting us down.

I am sure that the Taoiseach agrees that all of this is unacceptable. It is unacceptable that these parents are still kept in the dark. They were also promised the speedy delivery of legislation to protect the legal guidelines around the retention and disposal of human organs and tissue. The human tissue Bill was due to be published by the end of last year, but this too has been delayed and has caused stress and frustration. Tá teaghlaigh ag streachailt agus tá an Stát ag teip go dona orthu. Tá freagraí ag teastáil ó na teaghlaigh seo agus caithfidh an Rialtas reachtaíocht a chur i bhfeidhm atá ag teastáil chun a chinntiú nach féidir lena leithéid tarlú arís.

I am certain that everyone in this Dáil wants to make this right. I am certain that we need absolute assurances that these practices have ceased and that this is not currently happening in our hospitals. When will the parents affected by the scandal at Cork University Maternity Hospital be given the review report, which is now complete? When will that wider audit of hospitals beyond Cork be published?

I express my deepest sympathies to the families involved who, having experienced the tragedy of losing a beloved child or loved one, have that grief compounded by the wrong and inappropriate disposal of organs. It is unacceptable and very distressing for the families concerned. In many respects, it is incomprehensible given that there was a major inquiry nearly 20 years ago which covered every single hospital in the country in terms of post-mortem practice. Guidelines were established.

It is difficult to comprehend that hospitals are still, albeit not on the same scale as prior to that inquiry, nonetheless engaging in practices such as incineration or retaining organs beyond the timelines that they are required to retain organs and that in certain instances, again, there was no proper consultation or engagement with parents or family members. This is unacceptable. The HSE did the audit. At least I take something from that in that it did a robust audit and has revealed the latest incidence with regard to hospitals in Limerick, Drogheda and elsewhere. That should be published without delay.

On the review in Cork, the need of the family for transparency should be absolutely prioritised by the HSE. I understand the review team is currently engaging legal opinion on the draft report before sending it to participants, in accordance with factual accuracy checking and fair procedures, and I am told the final draft will be shared with the families for input on factual accuracy checking and so on. That needs to be accelerated because much grief and stress has been caused to the parents in the Cork University Maternity Hospital case. This should not be happening in today's world. Arising out of the audit, a variety of work is under way on the national women's and infants' health programme. It is leading a review of the provision of perinatal pathology services. A post mortem examination services group has been established to review and update the current standards by December 2022 and a project group has been established to monitor the implementation of this audit's recommendations.

The human tissue Bill needs to be published. I spoke to the Minister this morning and I have spoken to the Attorney General. I made it clear I want that legislation published in September. There are complexities applying to this legislation but the general scheme was published a number of years ago. It has been ongoing now for a long time. There are implications for transplantation because of significant new policies in respect of facilitating the retrieval of organs in respect of transplants and we want that to be a positive dimension to this. That said, the Bill must be published and needs to be debated in this House. We need, with the co-operation of all Members of this House, to get that Bill enacted. That is a commitment I am making. I spoke to the Minister for Health this morning and I have spoken to the Attorney General as well about it being all hands on deck now to get this done once and for all.

I very much welcome that. I think we are of one mind across the Dáil that all this is completely unacceptable. As the Taoiseach has described, the families have been through losing a precious child, a loved one, and then experienced the horror of discovering that their organs were disposed of in this manner, alongside, as I said, medical waste. This can never, ever happen again. We need to have an assurance here in the Oireachtas, and in turn to reassure the public, that this is not current practice in any hospital in the State. People deserve that reassurance.

For the purposes of clarity, the Taoiseach is calling for the report of the review to be shared with the families without further delay, for the publication of the audit by the HSE without delay and for the publication of the legislation by September. All of that is very welcome. By the way, we are aware of the complexities around transplantation and the absolute necessity of getting the law right. The Taoiseach will, I am sure, have the full co-operation of the entire House but we need speed now. We need to sort this out for those families.

Aontaím leis an Teachta. Tá sé dochreidte go bhfuil sé seo fós ag tarlú sa lá atá inniu ann. Déanaim comhbhrón arís leis na teaghlaigh go léir atá ag fulaingt de dheasca an mhéid a tharla. Caithfimid dul i ngleic leis seo agus an scéal a réiteach.

On the review being shared with the families in Cork, I have asked that be done as quickly as possible and that the audit by the HSE be published. I understand it has been released via freedom of information requests. That is one understanding I had this morning. I can confirm that or clarify that, but it should be published in full. The Minister is very anxious the human tissue Bill is published, notwithstanding the complexities and so on, and that we get this done this autumn.