The Taoiseach’s been accused of undermining the credibility of doctors who made claims about poor mortuary conditions at University Hospital Waterford.

Leo Varadkar said there doesn’t seem to be any evidence to support claims by four pathologists that bodies were being stored in corridors in the mortuary due to a lack of capacity.

Green Party Senator for Waterford, Grace O’Sullivan, says his comments haven’t helped matters:

“The Taoiseach’s statement is staggering. He needs to take these consultants at their word and find out what is going wrong and fix it. The Irish Hospital Consultants Association have come out in support of the consultants. It is not good enough to dismiss what they are saying as having ‘no evidence’ when no one independent has been tasked with looking into this.

“This is how I see it: Last October, four UHW consultant pathologists wrote a letter to the South/ Southwest Hospital Group (SSWHG) outlining disturbing details around the conditions bodies are being stored in at Waterford UHW mortuary. The SSWHG didn’t respond to or investigate these claims until a story broke in the news.

“The buck stops with management and it is inappropriate for the Taoiseach to make such categorical statements ahead of any meaningful investigation.”

Senator O’Sullivan, the Green Party MEP candidate for Ireland South, met with Professor Rob Landers ahead of a meeting with Waterford Oireachtas members, UHW management and representatives of SSWHG last week.

“Professor Landers and the mortician on duty showed me around and I saw first-hand the woefully inadequate facilities at the UHW mortuary.

“Rather than HSE management and the Taoiseach putting all their energy into discrediting the consultants, perhaps they should have responded to the consultants appeal for urgent action when it was requested, not as a reflex action when it broke in the media.

“The one area the UHW management, SSWHG, the Taoiseach and the consultants are in agreement on is that conditions in the mortuary are not up to standard.”