Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This Commencement matter asks the Minister for Health to make a statement on the proposed human tissue Bill, which has been mooted for so long. I have raised this issue here previously. On 10 November 2021, I asked the Minister to make a statement on the incineration of baby organs in Cork University Maternity Hospital, CUMH, and asked what changes he proposed to bring forward.

The backdrop to this is a sad case in which the organs of 18 children in the maternity hospital in Cork were incinerated without the knowledge or licence of their parents. The parents were horrified that this happened. It was the subject of an "RTÉ Investigates" report afterwards. These poor kids were lost and their organs, which were kept to understand what happened, were subsequently destroyed by incineration in Antwerp, Belgium.

We have been talking about bringing forward legislation to make sure that this could never again happen. As a matter of principle, we should have legislation to ensure this kind of issue can be dealt with so we do not have a scenario in which parents are now protesting again and looking for information as to when this legislation might be brought forward.

The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, took my previous Commencement matter on this issue and gave me a commitment that the work of the Parliamentary Counsel was progressing and that the Bill would be published by the end of 2021. 2021 has come and gone and there is no legislation that I can see. The Bill started its progress through the Oireachtas in 2019. It was proposed in May 2019. The damning issue here is that the Bill brings forward recommendations from a report published in early 2006 by the then Minister, Mary Harney. We have been fighting since 2006 to bring this legislation all the way through the Oireachtas so that parents in this unbelievable scenario will have due responsibility and due rights when it comes to these organs that are being kept for medical research and an understanding of what happens.

This is a traumatic moment for people. They have been promised legislation continuously but it has not been brought forward. This is the safeguard and the safety net they require at all times so they can make sure that the incident we have seen in Cork, which has also happened in other jurisdictions, will never again happen.

I spoke about baby Hope Kelleher when I raised this issue previously. Her parents contacted me from Australia about the issue. Her organs were destroyed. The parents had hoped her organs could be buried in a family plot. Her organs were never brought back to them. We need a timeline brought forward to ensure this can never happen again. The families affected have heard promises, promises, promises. The human tissue Bill has gone around these Houses since long before I came here. I want a timeline as to when the Bill will be published so we can get this legislation on the Statute Book and offer due protection in order that what happened in Cork in 2020 can never again happen.