Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 90: To ask the Minister for Health and Children when she will introduce legislation regarding consent for the retention of human tissue by hospitals and other institutions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14122/09]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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My Department plans to circulate its draft Proposal for the General Scheme of the Human Tissue Bill 2009 for public consultation shortly. A central element of the draft Proposal will be the implementation of the key recommendations of the report by Dr Deirdre Madden into Post-mortem Practice and Procedures. In line with the report, the legislation will provide that no hospital post-mortem examination should be carried out and no tissue retained for any purpose whatsoever without authorisation. Consent/authorisation will be the defining principle underpinning any of the specified activities involving human tissue in the draft Proposal, including hospital post-mortems.

My Department will analyse all submissions received from the consultation process and aims to present the final General Scheme to Government for its approval in the Autumn.