The report of the inquiry into the retention of children's organs by hospitals has concluded there was no commercial motivation behind the practice.
The Irish Times understands the 140-page report of Dr Deirdre Madden, to be published today, will point to a series of communications failures by hospital staff for not seeking the consent of families for the retention of the organs of deceased relatives.
The report is expected to maintain that organs were retained by hospitals largely for public health reasons.
However, sources said there may be criticism of the way the Department of Health initially handled the organ retention issue when the controversy first emerged six years ago.
The report is expected to recommend that Minister for Health Mary Harney introduce new legislation to govern the retention of organs by hospitals in the future.
It proposes that such new legislation should cover the areas of consent by families and the authorisation for hospital staff to remove human organs.
The report will also recommend the introduction of training for hospital personnel as well as new guidelines for staff seeking consent for the removal of organs. The report will also recommend new protocols for record-keeping in hospitals.
Dr Madden's report will be brought to Cabinet today by Ms Harney. It was submitted to the Department of Health before Christmas and subsequently examined by the Office of the Attorney General over recent weeks.
There are no proposals for any form of compensation scheme for parents whose children's organs were retained by hospitals without permission.
A number of pharmaceutical companies have confirmed in recent years that they received human glands from hospitals in the 1970s and early 1980s to make growth hormones.
The report is expected to conclude that there was no commercial motive involved in this arrangement.
Ms Harney said yesterday she would be recommending to Cabinet that the Government should agree to implement all the recommendations in the report.
She believed most people who read Dr Madden's report would see it was a sensible and forward-looking document.
Ms Harney said she could not predict the response of Parents for Justice, the group representing families affected by the organ retention controversy, to the findings in Dr Madden's report.
Parents for Justice had sought a copy of the report 24-48 hours in advance of publication. However, this was not granted.
Dr Madden, an expert in medical ethics, was asked by the Government last May to draw up her report following a decision by Ms Harney to close down an earlier investigation into the controversy headed by senior counsel Anne Dunne.
The Irish Times reported last year that the Government had closed down the Dunne inquiry because it had missed successive deadlines and the Cabinet no longer believed that further public expenditure could be justified. The cost of the inquiry into the controversy has been estimated at more than €20 million.
Parents for Justice has initiated High Court proceedings against the Government over its handling of the controversy.
It is seeking a declaration that the Government was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights in that there had been excessive delays in relation to the inquiry.
