Minister fails to find expert for child death study
The intended three-person Child Death Review Group, which so far comprises family law expert Geoffrey Shannon and Barnardos advocacy director Norah Gibbons, has had to start work one person short.
Minister Barry Andrews said in early March that Mr Shannon and Ms Gibbons would be joined by “an independent person of international standing”, but a spokeswoman said yesterday those arrangements were still being put in place.
“An international expert was invited to participate in the process, but due to personal circumstances was unable to commit,” she said. “It is envisaged that the international expert will become involved at a later stage of the review process when an initial examination of documentation has been completed by the two appointed members.”
The group was set up on March 9 to review the deaths of an estimated 23 children and young people who died while in the care of the HSE since 2000.
The move was prompted after it emerged that the HSE and the health boards that predated it had failed to publish reports on child deaths and that there was no standard format for carrying out internal inquiries into such deaths or compiling reports on them.
Minister Andrews simultaneously ordered the HSE to establish exactly how many deaths the group would need to review, but it still has not come up with a definitive answer.
The minister conceded to the Dáil recently that he would not be surprised if the figure turned out to be higher than 23. However, a weekend newspaper report quoted sources as estimating the number to be as high as 70.
Mr Andrew’s spokeswoman did not comment on that latest estimate. “The HSE is in the process of validating details regarding the number of deaths of children in care over the last 10 years,” she said.
Despite the uncertainty over the volume of work they face, the review group is supposed to complete its task within six months.
