Organ Retention Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-22 ============================================================ Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny I thank the Senator for highlighting this serious issue and concern. I know it is ten years ago, as the Senator said, but I also send my sympathies to Tadhg's parents. It does not matter how many years ago it was, it is still very emotional. I am taking this Commencement matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, because she cannot be here. I thank the Senator for raising this important issue. First, I express my deepest sympathies again to all those affected by the deeply troubling issues around organ retention. It is an unacceptable and very distressing situation for anyone to go through, especially after having experienced the tragedy of losing a beloved child. Most post-mortem examinations are a vital part of medical practice. It is one of the most informative investigations in medicine and can provide objective information on the cause of death, which is of value to the family of the deceased, to healthcare professionals and to other interested parties. Post-mortem examinations can provide information about the risk of inherited diseases, which might be of benefit to family members in seeking necessary care and treatment. Post-mortem examinations can provide information to improve understanding of how disease is caused, advancing medical knowledge and helping others by contributing to the fight against disease and how it can best be treated. Organs or tissues are sometimes removed and retained as part of a post-mortem examination, primarily to allow for analysis of the cause of death. In hospital post-mortem services, this follows a detailed information and consent process with families. Consent processes underwent significant change and improvement following justified outrage, and that is factual, about post-mortem and organ retention practices in Ireland. Several inquiries have addressed the controversies around organ retention. The Dunne inquiry, as the Senator said, was established to investigate post-mortem practice and procedure in all hospitals in the State since 1970. The inquiry commenced its work in March 2001 and submitted a report to the then Minister for Health in March 2005. In May 2005, Dr. Deirdre Madden was appointed to examine the findings of the Dunne report and to provide the Government with a final report on post-mortem policy and practice. This report was published in 2006. A subsequent report of a working group, also chaired by Dr. Madden, on other areas of post-mortem practice and procedures was published in November 2006. An independent audit of all retained organs in the State, which was commissioned by the HSE, was carried out by Ms Michaela Willis and this report was published in 2009. The HSE subsequently developed its standards and recommended practices for post-mortem examination services and circulated these to relevant hospital staff in March 2012. The overall aim of the 2012 guidelines was to drive high quality post-mortem examination services, based on legal requirements and in keeping with best professional practice. These guidelines were recently updated to the HSE national clinical guidelines for post-mortem examination services in April 2023. The Human Tissue (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Act 2024 was enacted in February 2024. Part 3 deals with pathology practice and implements many of the findings of the Madden report from 2005. This will establish a new regulatory regime to ensure best practice is followed in the conduct of post-mortem examinations. The Act introduces consent provisions for non-coronial post mortems and sets out a clear framework for how consent is to be obtained and the information that must be given to individuals or their families when seeking such consent. The Act also provides for the regulation of the retention, storage, use, disposal and return of organs and tissue from deceased persons following all post mortems in hospital settings, including those directed by a coroner. The Act also amends the Coroners Acts 1962-2024 to address issues with regard to material removed and retained from the deceased person in a post-mortem examination directed by a coroner. This is something that families directly impacted by recent controversies have called for, and it is important that the legislation has not only acknowledged these requests but has addressed them. I will be coming back in, but I think it would be important that the Senator would email me all that information, if she would not mind. I will also have a meeting with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on this matter. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-22/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:50+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-04-22