The Parents for Justice organisation, which represents families whose children's organs were removed and retained by hospitals without consent, is to write to the Taoiseach today calling on him to remove the Minister for Health, Mr Martin, from office.
At an extraordinary general meeting on Saturday, members of the Parents for Justice group voted to seek the immediate resignation of Mr Martin.
The Parents for Justice organisation is angry at what it sees as a failure of the Minister to deliver on promises to establish a statutory inquiry into the organ retention controversy. Saturday's meeting unanimously expressed anger at what it maintained was his "incompetent handling" of the issue.
A non-statutory inquiry, headed by Ms Anne Dunne SC, has been looking at the organ retention controversy for the last three years. The Dunne inquiry has so far cost €15 million and has produced no final report.
The Minister last Thursday asked Ms Dunne to have her report on the retention of children's organs completed by the end of the year.
The Parents for Justice group, in its letter to the Taoiseach today, will ask him to intervene personally over the head of the Minister for Health and establish a statutory inquiry. The extraordinary general meeting was also told that one woman from the midlands had already initiated legal action to seek the courts to force the Minister for Health to establish a statutory inquiry.
The chairwoman of Parents for Justice, Ms Fionnuala O'Reilly, yesterday told The Irish Times that the plaintiff would argue that the Minister had made both written and oral commitments to establish such a statutory investigation, and would ask the High Court to deal with what she maintained was Mr Martin's breach of promise.
Ms O'Reilly said that the organisation was also considering proposals to run candidates in the by-elections due in Meath and Kildare.She also confirmed yesterday that a "whistleblower" who had previously worked in the pharmaceutical sector had told them that a number of other organs, in addition to pituitary glands, were given by hospitals to pharmaceutical companies.
In a statement last night Mr Martin said that it was always the intention that the investigation into post-mortem practices and organ retention should have a statutory phase. "If it transpires that it is not possible to do so through an Oireachtas Committee, I am committed to ensuring that it is done through another appropriate forum with statutory powers".
