Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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736. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide clarification on a particularly serious matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58058/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Health, I acknowledge the trauma and distress caused to those families who, having experienced the tragedy of losing a beloved child, have then had the difficult experience of learning that organs have been retained without consultation or for an extended period of time. Such incidents are clearly unacceptable and add to the distress and grief of families.

The Department of Health recognises the need to introduce safeguards to protect the integrity of the human body before and after death, and the Human Tissue (Transplant, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Bill is a legislative priority for this Government. The Bill is a composite piece of legislation that will introduce a statutory framework across the areas of organ donation and transplantation, post-mortem practice and procedures in hospital settings, anatomical examination and public display of bodies after death.

The overarching aim of the Bill is to further embed in legislation the idea that consent is the defining principle across all these sensitive matters.

Department of Health officials continue to work on the legislation and drafting is now in its final stages. As such, I expect to be in a position to seek Government approval for publication of the Human Tissue Bill by the end of this month (November 2022).

I know that the HSE is also committed to ensuring post-mortem services comply with best practice across all hospitals and is progressing the eight recommendations identified in an audit report on the post-mortem process published earlier this year.

Actions taken so far include:

- The Chief Clinical Officer has established a Post-Mortem Examination Services Group to review and update the 2012 Standards. This Group is due to complete its work by the end of the year;

- The National Women and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP) has accelerated a review of the provision of perinatal pathology, and the HSE is currently developing a National Perinatal Pathology Practice Framework Document to support services;

- The HSE is continuing to invest in perinatal pathology services with the aim of ensuring that all hospitals will have access to a regional service either as part of their Hospital Group or a network of Hospital Groups; and

- HSE National Acute Operations has engaged with local hospital management to ensure that existing guidelines are followed.

While it would be inappropriate for me to comment on individual cases, I can confirm that the correspondence raised by the Deputy has been received by my Department. I have instructed officials to engage with the HSE to ensure that the family in question are provided with the information requested.