Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

They are not agreed. This morning, we heard very harrowing news about an investigation being carried out at Cork University Maternity Hospital after it emerged that the organs of 18 babies were transported abroad and disposed of by incineration without the consent or knowledge of their parents. I am sure we can only imagine the extreme hurt and distress that those families are now experiencing. This is not the first scandal and upset around organ retention and matters arising from this, however. It is beyond belief that we are at this point again.

As the Taoiseach will know, what happened in Cork University Maternity Hospital is in breach of HSE guidelines that go back to 2012 arising from a previous scandal. We need answers. We need to know why this happened. As a matter of urgency, time needs to be made available for the Minister for Health to appear before the House to make a statement, take questions and give answers to the Dáil, but, more importantly, to start to give answers and assurances to those families, in particular, and to the wider community.

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