Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

This petition is from Mrs. Neary, who is concerned that data on the tissue of patients who attend public hospitals can be used for medical research purposes without proper patient consent. That is one aspect of her petition.

This is obviously a very complex matter concerning how tissue is controlled, who has access to it and where consent is, or is not, given for its use. She has raised matters that are genuinely of public concern.

I understand that a White Paper is pending on this matter and that HIQA is also involved in setting a national standard for guidance in the use of health and social care settings concerning this particular issue. In fact, the petitioner will be making a submission to HIQA. Given the complexity of the matter, I would like to see the petitioner before this committee in the first instance so that we might better assess how we can proceed with regard to this petition. There are a number of aspects to it and we are not specialists. She has done a lot of research and I think the committee could benefit from hearing from her in the first instance. That would be my recommendation.