Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If I may comment on the Waterford mortuary situation before I leave. I am very grateful to Ms Rothwell for being here today and for her leadership in the hospital in Waterford. She has taken very swift action to improve the situation including putting an interim solution in place. It is now on site and is greatly assisting. It is important that the new HSE director general visited the hospital and met with pathologists and saw the situation for himself. I appreciate that he did that. I want to make two points here. The new mortuary facility will be going ahead in Waterford. Permission to tender has issued and that is something people will see as advanced. We know that it will take some time to build the mortuary and that is why it is important that the interim facility is in place. I did make the point that it is important that there would be some form of review. This was a view shared by Ms Rothwell, the HSE, and the South/Southwest hospital group to look at internal processes and pathways on where remains are received, retained and released from the mortuary and to review management and governance arrangements for the mortuary to ensure that they are consistent with contemporary practice. This morning we signed off on the terms of reference. While I have been here a letter was sent to Oireachtas Members from Waterford outlining the terms of reference and the proposed membership of the review team. It is expected that the final report will be available and finished in September and will inform the short and medium-term arrangements for the mortuary facility and its effective operation, and any broader learning for the health service.