The unpublished report of a four-year Government inquiry into the retention of deceased children's organs by hospitals has found that doctors may have been arrogant and insensitive in the practice but there was no malice or ulterior motive.
The Dunne Post Mortem Inquiry has recommended new legislation, new rights for parents and penalties for hospitals that breach regulations in order to restore public confidence in the post mortem examination process.
Reacting to the report the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association has said the medical profession has taken on board the views of next of kin in relation to the organ retention controversy and changes in practices have been put in place.
Deputy Secretary-General Donal Duffy said that the concerns of parents had been listened to and acted on.
The association said it was pleased that the Madden report and now the Dunne Post Mortem Inquiry report had reached the same conclusion.
In its 45 pages of findings and recommendations, the report says the revelations for parents and next of kin were devastating, re-opened grief and for many, organs were disposed of in an undignified and improper way.
It says further trauma was caused to many families because hospitals kept no records or had poor records and provided information on a piecemeal basis over time 'thereby prolonging the anxiety and distress'.
While the report says doctors engaged in paternalism, it points out that the post mortem examinations were conducted in the public interest to aid diagnosis and assist medical science.
However, it says the impact of the controversy has been in a drop in consent to post mortem examinations, which has affected research into the nature of disease and public health.
It concludes that the damage to public confidence was caused by hospital practices and not by the proper revelation of the issues by parents through the media.
A copy of the report's findings was secured under the Freedom of Information Act by the campaign group, Parents for Justice.
The inquiry by barrister, Anne Dunne was set up in 2000 and began its work in 2001. It was wound up by the Government in March 2005 without completing its work, after missing several deadlines and having incurred a direct cost of over 13 million euro.
Its report was delivered to the Tanaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney in March of last year but on the advice of the Attorney General, it was not made public.
Last year, after the closure of the Dunne Inquiry, the Tanaiste appointed barrister Deirdre Madden to produce a separate report on the organ retention issue. Her report was published in January.
