Cost of special needs litigation cases not available, PAC hears

Secretary-general of the Department of Health Robert Watt has written to the Public Accounts Committee to assert that his Department “did not gather sensitive medical and educational information” on the children involved in those court cases

The Department of Health has said that information on the costs incurred as part of 29 litigation cases involving pupils with special needs “is not available”.

Secretary-general of the Department of Health Robert Watt has written to the Public Accounts Committee to assert that his Department “did not gather sensitive medical and educational information” on the children involved in those court cases “in the manner portrayed” in an RTÉ Investigates programme broadcast on March 25.

That programme had suggested that dossiers, which allegedly included sensitive medical and educational information of children involved in dormant court cases, were compiled and maintained over a number of years by the Department, allegedly without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

“As a matter of proper administration of legal proceedings, it is incumbent on the State where appropriate to ensure that cases do not remain dormant,” Mr Watt said.

As regards how the information involved is requested and received by the State bodies involved from the HSE, Mr Watt referenced a recent report prepared for him by his Department regarding the RTÉ programme, which stated that “the Department within its service update was not seeking the release of clinical information for which consent would be required”.

As regards how this sharing of information approach has cost, Mr Watt said: “Unfortunately, expenditure information is not available on costs associated with the coordination of the resources across the Office of the Attorney General, the Chief State Solicitor’s Office, the Department of Education, the Department of Health and the HSE.”

The letter was one piece of correspondence among many discussed at Tuesday morning’s meeting of the PAC.

The longstanding issue surrounding a €10 million rental overpayment by the OPW —  on the Department of Health’s headquarters at Miesian Plaza — also received an update. Picture: Gareth Chaney / Collins Photos

The longstanding issue surrounding a €10 million rental overpayment by the OPW —  on the Department of Health’s headquarters at Miesian Plaza — also received an update, with the OPW stating they had met with landlords Remleys, a company owned by beef baron billionaire Larry Goodman, on June 3 “without prejudice” to discuss how the matter might be resolved, one of eight similar communications received by the PAC since the matter came to light in late-2018.

The PAC resolved to seek the minutes of that meeting, with Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy asserting that “it is a question of keeping this on the agenda”. 

She suggested that the issue be flagged for further discussion when the Dail returns in September.

Committee chair Brian Stanley said however that “the OPW is not legally in a good position and is dependent on the goodwill of the landlord”, adding that Remleys “may have other properties rented out to the State as I understand it”.

Separately, the committee criticised correspondence received from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) which had insisted that the installation of security systems at Ireland’s 25 racecourses may be impacted by “the complexities” of the tenders received.

That letter had underlined that a previously much-quoted figure of €18 million being made available for the installation of CCTV systems in stable yards in 2018 was incorrect, something that the IHRB put down to a “misquote” from Mr Stanley.

Sinn Fein’s Imelda Munster described the letter as being “petty… almost childlike in manner”.