Independent group set up to investigate child deaths
Last night, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Barry Andrews said there was “no cover-up” of the Tracey Fay report. The panel will include Norah Gibbons of Barnardos and child law expert Geoffrey Shannon.
A third “independent person of international standing” will be appointed by the Government following consultation with the two group members.
Discussions involving HSE chief executive Prof Brendan Drumm and officials from the Department of Health were held prior to the group’s formation.
This Government initiative comes amid recent controversy over the non-publication by the HSE of details of some children who passed through the care system.
Mr Andrews said: “The steps that I have taken are intended to provide transparency in respect of the circumstances surrounding the deaths of all children in care over the last 10 years. There is a public confidence issue at the heart of these reports.
“There was no cover-up,” he stressed.
“However, it is an imperative that the learning and recommendations from these cases be shared in the interests of children and families, professionals and the wider public.”
Ms Gibbons, the director of advocacy at Barnardos, is already in charge of a report into alleged health board failings to intervene in the case of a family in the west of Ireland where both the mother and father have been convicted of sex crimes against their children.
The group will start its investigation as soon as the work of the Roscommon Inquiry is completed, said Mr Andrews.
