Fine Gael Children Spokesperson, Deputy Alan Shatter said: “It is deeply regrettable that it required the publication by Fine Gael of the report into the circumstances relating to the death of Tracey Fay for the Minister for Children to meet with the Chairman of the HSE to prioritise the completion of all reviews of the deaths of children in care over the past decade. Tonight’s announcement by the Minister is a clear acknowledgement of the total failure of the Government to date to address seriously the scandalous failings within our child care and protection services and of the present Minister for Children to acknowledge that he is accountable to the Dail for these vital services.
“Over a year has elapsed since I first sought from the Minister the information he has today demanded the HSE prioritise. It is extraordinary that the Minister for Children failed to take such action long ago.
“With regard to DF, whose name has been widely publicised in the press over the past two years, the Minister for Children informed the Dail in October 2008 that publication of the report into the tragic death of this 17 year old was ‘imminent’. On the 6 October 2009 he promised that the report would be published on the 21st October 2009. Last week he informed the Dail that this particular report was about to be published. It is entirely unsatisfactory that we are now told simply that ‘he has agreed with the HSE that this matter will be finalised as a matter of urgency.’ DF was a vulnerable 14 year old who himself sought to be taken into care due to the difficult circumstances of his life and who, like Tracey Fay, was utterly failed by our child care services. The Minister has had in his possession for some considerable time the report into the death of DF and I am calling on the Minister to specifically state the date when this report will be published and to confirm that it will be published in full.
“The independent group comprising Norah Gibbons and Geoffrey Shannon, two widely respected individuals, will not commence its work until completion of the Roscommon inquiry. It is notable that the Minister has failed to state when he anticipates the inquiry will be completed and has to date ignored calls to state when the Roscommon inquiry report will be published. This report will catalogue yet another catastrophic failure in our child care and protection services. There is an urgent need that it be published as well as the report into the death of DF so as to ensure that all recommendations made for the proper protection of children are fully implemented. I am calling on the Minister to state when the Roscommon report will be published.
“From statements made in the Dail by the Minister last week, we now know that 14 children at least died whilst in care from non-natural causes. Whilst the appointment of the independent group is welcome, its formation suggests that not only is the Minister not in control of the child care and protection services but he doesn’t trust the information he is receiving from the HSE. The establishment of the group must not become a mechanism to prolong the delay in the publication of information about the death of other young people in care due to failings in our child care and protection services. Instead of the appointment of an independent group on a temporary basis a better solution would be the formation of a permanent group of experts entirely independent of HSE personnel with a remit not only to independently review all recent deaths of children in care but also with an ongoing responsibility to investigate and publicly report on any future substantial failings in our child care services which either result in the tragic death of a young person or in the plight of children reported to be at risk being ignored with the consequence that they continue to be the victims of abuse or serious neglect.”
Ends