The government has come under pressure to introduce the system after conflicting verdicts were given into the the death of Brian Murphy by former state pathologist John Harbison and Marie Cassidy.

Harbison insisted that Murphy was violently beaten to death, but in a report earlier this year, Cassidy concluded that Murphy's death was linked to alcohol consumption.

After the controversy, McDowell said he was considering the introduction of a two-pathologist system. At a recent meeting of the Oireachtas justice committee, McDowell said that he is "not reluctant to follow this route, but the Irish incumbent, Dr Marie Cassidy, is not keen on having two people carry out each procedure or dual reporting".

However, speaking to the Sunday Tribune, Cassidy insisted that she has "no idea whatsoever" what the minister's comments were based on. She said that she had not expressed any view, in favour of or against, the possible change in the pathology system here.

"I have had no formal discussion with anyone about this and I don't know where he is getting this view. I am to meet with the attorney general to discuss the subject but this has not gone ahead yet."

Cassidy added: "I don't mind either way. It isn't my decision to make."

A spokesperson for the justice minister said that McDowell's comments were an accurate reflection of the informal discussions going on behind the scenes between justice department officials and the state pathologist.

Cassidy has also faced criticism from leading oncologist Dr Maeve Pomeroy who claims the pathologist produced two conflicting accounts of how her son Daniel O'Callaghan died. His body had been returned home after being found dead in Gran Canaria in May 2003.

Chemical pathologist at Beaumont hospital, Dr Bill Tormey, described Cassidy's analysis in the Murphy case as "fanciful in the extreme".