A group representing parents of children whose organs were retained by hospitals without their knowledge has advised its members not to co-operate with the latest inquiry into the matter.
Parents for Justice said it was not properly consulted about the terms of reference for the Madden inquiry, announced by the Tanaiste and Minister for Health yesterday.
The group also criticised restrictions on the inquiry. Ms Harney said the inquiry's report deadline of next December made it necessary to confine its investigation into cases involving children under 12.
UCC law lecturer Dr Deirdre Madden has been appointed to complete an inquiry established by the Government five years ago into the organ retention controversy.
Dr Madden, an expert in medical ethics, was commissioned in May to finish the former Dunne inquiry.
The Dunne inquiry, chaired by senior counsel Anne Dunne SC, was halted after it failed to meet several deadlines or to produce a substantive report on its work. The inquiry had already cost some €20 million.
Ms Harney said yesterday she hoped Dr Madden would produce a comprehensive report that would help "put closure on the matter for many families and next of kin".