Delays, excuses and inaction will define minister’s reign
Despite having overall responsibility for children in care, during the most important periods of his tenure, he has been unable to enforce that duty.
The tragedy of Tracey Fay’s life, documented within a 103-page December 2008 report only made public after it was leaked, is just the latest example.
Despite the importance of the document, the Fianna Fáil TD repeatedly failed to ensure publication.
In March, 2009, Mr Andrews said he would like to see the document made public within a month. This did not happen.
On October 19, 2009, he repeated the comment to the Oireachtas Health Committee. But the report remained unpublished.
On November 4, 2009, when asked in the Dáil why the document had not been produced, he said he had been told by the HSE they were waiting to contact the family. But no contact was made until the report was leaked, five months later.
Thus evidence about what happened to Tracey Fay was delayed, stalled, and left unpublished.
The reality is that under legislation that created the HSE, Mr Andrews’ office does not have responsibility for the services’ daily work.
“My view is that the minister has been toothless throughout this entire period,” said Fine Gael’s children’s spokesperson, Alan Shatter. “His argument is that the HSE was examining the report, but that shouldn’t have meant he should accept that report being suppressed…
“He should have demanded the report was published, but he didn’t.”
On Wednesday, Mr Andrews said that publication of any of these reports is a difficult balancing act between the rights to privacy of family members and the public right to know.
While he was congratulated by some for accepting that Tracey Fay was “failed by the state”, many felt it was too small a gesture, too late in the day.
The failure to reveal the document two years after it was written, as well as other similar unpublished reports, is indefensible.
In December 2008, details of the report into clerical sex abuse in Cloyne began to circulate.
It emerged that a report from the Catholic Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children had been sent to the minister in July, followed by a second report by the HSE in December.
The minister declined to make them public until effectively forced to do so.
Mr Andrews will have many reasons why he should retain his position after a Cabinet reshuffle.
But for his detractors, his time in office will come down to a series of delays in implementing what he has been tasked with doing.
Ultimately, their conclusion of his record will be summarised by seven words: Tracey Fay. Cloyne abuse. Delays. Excuses. Inaction.
