The Minister for Health says an outside inquiry may be needed to establish how the wrong kidney was removed from a child during a recent operation at Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Dublin.
However Mary Harney insists she has total confidence in the hospital carrying out a thorough internal investigation.
She said that unfortunately clinical errors occur in the best healthcare systems.
The mistake that led to a healthy kidney being removed has been described by the hospital as an unprecedented error, and it says it has given its sincere apologies to the family.
The young child now faces regular dialysis unless a donor kidney can be found.
Our Lady's has confirmed the incident and described it as a 'significant and regrettable medical error'.
An internal review is under way and the hospital says its board of directors will consider the detail of the review and act where appropriate.
The hospital also pointed out that the family was and continues to be given full support by the hospital staff.
The child has been discharged from the hospital. According to Our Lady's the family is happy to remain at the hospital for follow-up care.
