Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to raise this issue. In the brief time available, I will only be able to touch on some of the issues that arise out of the publication of what is known as the McElwee review report. It is a damning indictment of Departments and State agencies in respect of their abysmal failure to comply with the Children First guidelines, which were specifically put in place to provide protection for children.

It is clear that there is no point in making a contribution if the Minister of State is not even listening to me. I am sure he has a prepared script for response but this procedure becomes even more futile if he is not listening. With the chance that he might reply to something I raise, I will continue.

A litany of failure has been set out in this report, which is one of many we have seen which illustrate the incapacity of the State and its agencies to ensure that the guidelines it put in place for child protection are properly complied with. We require explanations that are not provided by this report.

I will refer briefly to some matters contained in the report. It is clear that at an early stage the central authority for mutual assistance in criminal matters, based in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, received correspondence from the Dutch authorities informing it that Dr. A "sexually harassed American girls, two of them being 18 years old and one of them being 16 years old" in Amsterdam. An inquiry was made of the Department as to whether a prosecution could take place in Ireland. That was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions who said it could not. Subsequently, the same section in the Department was requested in August 2005 to serve a summons on Dr. A for a court session that took place on 13 September 2005. Those court proceedings resulted in his conviction for a sexual offence.

It seems that although this was an Irish national who was engaged in sensitive work and indeed was undertaking research into child protection issues, it never occurred to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, any official in his Department or any official who had received the original letter or the request to serve the summons to inquire into the outcome of that prosecution. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform explains its failure to communicate anything to anybody after 2005 on the basis that it was not made aware of any detail of the conviction. There should be an obligation on the Department to inquire into the detail of the conviction and what occurred. If the Department had applied the Children First guidelines, it would have been required to ensure that if Dr. A was working in a position dealing with children, proper information was furnished. I want an explanation for the failure on the part of the Department and an assurance that in similar circumstances it will not behave similarly.

We then have what can only be described as a damning indictment of the Midland Health Board and the HSE midland area. The HSE midland area and the health board are the bodies which are primarily responsible for child protection. They have a statutory duty to protect children's welfare. At a very early stage in 2004, a top official in that health board was advised of the allegations made against Dr. A. Indeed, the outcome of the summons and the conviction were made known to him. Yet, incredibly, that health board continued to commission work from Dr. A into child protection issues and, amazingly, in the context of publishing one report, subsequently had the Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Noel Ahern, present, presumably to give the Government imprimatur to his piece of research.

The report concludes:

Having regard to all of the facts available in respect of Dr. A's behaviour in Amsterdam in June 2004, the absence of any recorded risk assessment in respect of Dr. A, and the absence of any recorded "closure"of the Amsterdam incident for the Midland Health Board, it is inconceivable that an Officer of the Health Board would continue to make decisions to fund various projects involving Dr. A, particularly where they would involve young persons. The fact that at least one of those arrangements, incomplete and apparently entitled the Youth Resilience Project, was with Dr. A in a private capacity, and secured outside of any evident tendering or procurement procedures, raises serious concerns and requires further separate inquiry through the HSE's Internal Audit System.

It raises more than that. This reports lists a litany of failures on behalf of a number of officials of the Midland Health Board and the HSE. No one is held accountable for anything. I want to know whether anyone has resigned and whether the official known anonymously and euphemistically as MHB 1, who was at the centre of everything that occurred in the context of the total failure to abide by the Children First guidelines and the continued commissioning of Dr. A, despite information indicating that he was inappropriate to undertake research, is currently working in the HSE, in what capacity and whether his or her work has anything to do with children. Has he or she resigned?

The problem with this report is that it contains a litany of failure and the anonymity of departmental, health board and HSE officials is preserved. No one is held accountable. The truth is that no one, including this Government, cares. I ask the Minister to ensure that those issues are followed up and that the recommendation contained in this report that the Children First guidelines be given a statutory base be put in place. The report itself complains that where the guidelines are breached, there are no consequences. There should be consequences.

Those working in these areas need proper training to ensure they adhere to guidelines the Government put in place to protect children. What training is currently taking place to ensure that people in positions of management in the HSE, the Departments of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Education and Science, Health and Children and in other relevant Government agencies are not only aware of the Children First guidelines but understand their obligations to comply with them and are advised that there are consequences if they fail to do so?

See this speech in context