Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

From the moment of my appointment, it became clear to me that child welfare and protection would have to be a priority in the discharge of my functions and this continues to be the case. One key element in the restoration of public trust in that part of our health service is to ensure that reports like these are published. To suggest, as has been suggested on the floor of this Chamber today, that there is a mentality of cover-up or a failure to try to effect transparency, is most inaccurate and unfair to people who work extremely hard in the interests of children. I will continue to try to effect the changes the Government announced following the Ryan report and the implementation plan arising from it.

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