Gardaí and HSE get two weeks to deliver report

The Garda Commissioner has been given two weeks to report back on how two Roma children were taken from their families as part of a probe into the affair — while investigations into the HSE’s role in both cases could begin even earlier.

It emerged last night that the Ombudsman for Children, Emily Logan, may not wait until the Garda information is passed to Justice Minister Alan Shatter before looking into the HSE’s role.

The Children’s Ombudsman cannot conduct its own probe into the gardaí but its powers extend to investigating the HSE. It had originally been thought that the HSE would take a similar two-week period to compile information before passing it to Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald, who would pass it to Ms Logan.