Andrews refuses to remove HSE staff from probe team
Mr Andrews said he would not change the terms of reference and said he had confidence in its ability to identify how these abused and neglected children were not identified until their 40-year-old mother faced criminal charges.
Last night, Fine Gael proposed its own motion in the Dáil, calling for an independent commission to be set up entirely separate from the HSE.
The party’s spokesman on children, Alan Shatter, said the investigation could not be considered independent if half of the four-member group — national childcare specialist Paul Harrison and Gerry O’Neill, national manager with specialist childcare responsibility — were employed by the HSE.
“It is particularly inept that two of the people are involved in the childcare area of the HSE because the HSE has utterly failed to uniformly apply [the national childcare guidelines],” he said.
Fine Gael deputy James Bannon said he did not believe the seven-year sentence the mother received last week was correct. He said she should be more “pitied than condemned” because of institutional failings.
Mr Bannon did not feel any woman supported properly would commit incest, sexually abuse and neglect her children, as this woman had.
“Rather than point the finger at this poor unfortunate woman who was crying out for help... surely the Government or the HSE deserve to be in the dock.
“No woman who has received the benefit of necessary care... would deliberately set out to harm her children... [like] this poor unfortunate who was the victim of adverse circumstances,” he said.
Mr Shatter said there was a lot of services which should have had responsibility for protecting the children during the eight-year period but these were also beyond the scope of the inquiry.
Last night, chair of the investigation team, Norah Gibbons, rejected Mr Shatter’s call for her to reconsider her position if it could not be independent.
Ms Gibbons, who is Barnardos’ director of advocacy, said she felt the investigation would be robust and not compromised by the inclusion of two HSE employees.
“I want to assure those with concerns that I will, with the inquiry team, do my utmost to conduct a thorough, open and expeditious investigation into the circumstances surrounding the neglect and abuse of the children involved,” she said.
She said the terms of reference were strong enough to fully probe the circumstances of the case and if they prove too restrictive she will review them.
Mr Andrews said his office had the right to conduct its own investigation if it was unhappy with the outcome.
