Today (Friday) Alan Shatter TD, Fine Gael Front Bench Spokesperson on Children, accused the Minister for Children, Barry Andrews and the HSE of misleading the public and the Minister for Children of misleading the Dáil as to the extent of the efforts made by the HSE to contact the family of Tracey Fay in order to facilitate the publication of the report into her death.
“In a statement issued on Wednesday last the Minister stated, ‘The truth of the matter is that since the Report was finalised, the HSE has been in touch with the mother of the girl at the centre of the report and has been seeking to share the full content of the report with her before publication. Due to the mother’s illness, this consultation could not take place.’
“This version of events is utterly contradicted in today’s media report of an interview with Tracey’s mother, Doreen Curley. She claims that the first time she was contacted by the HSE in the eight years since her daughter’s death was ‘before Christmas’ (following the Minister for Children’s promise made before a Dáil Committee on 6 October to publish the report later that month) when she was informed that the report into Tracey’s death was to be published and received a copy of its recommendations. Doreen Curley claims that she heard nothing more from the HSE until this week following my laying of the report before both Houses of the Oireachtas. Moreover, Tracey’s uncle, Damian Fay who publicly called for publication of the report in January 2009 has also stated this week that no contact of any nature had been made with him by the HSE with regard to the report.
“It would appear that the truth is now out and I am calling on the Minister for Children and the HSE to come out with their hands up. They should now admit that the real reason they did not publish the Tracey Fay report and reports into the deaths of at least six other teenagers who have died either in the care of the State or shortly after leaving State care is not concern for the rights and/or sensitivities of their families but to hide the failures of the former health boards and the HSE to provide these young people with the care and protection to which they were entitled.
“I am calling on the Minister for Children and the HSE to immediately publish all existing reports into the deaths of children in care. The veil of secrecy they have drawn over these tragic deaths must be lifted and the light let in to our child care and protection services.”
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