Health board failed to see ‘enormity’ of abuse scandal

FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin described himself as shocked at a former health board’s failure to “see the enormity” of a sex abuse scandal involving one of its former employees, a school dentist.

The dentist was employed in the southern half of the country in a school dental programme and in special needs services for over two decades up to the 1980s. He had sole care for up to 600 children, according to Freedom of Information documentation obtained from the then health board.

Mr Martin said: “In my opinion, the health board did not adequately deal with the situation in terms of the needs of the survivors. There may have eventually been co-operation but that was latter-day co-operation.