Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue again and pursuing it which he has done so single-handedly for a number of months with me personally. I concur with his opening statement when he again asked the HSE to publish the full Brandon report. I second that. It is important to acknowledge that the Deputy has done great work.

Much like the Deputy, I had hoped that I would be able to publish the Brandon report, after the HSE decided it was not in a position to do so. It is also important to put on record that it was unfortunate the HSE published the report on the final day this House sat before Christmas, which gave us no opportunity to have a comprehensive conversation on it. I welcome the fact that the Ceann Comhairle has said that time would be set aside to have a good discussion and statements on it in early 2022.

Having sought the Attorney General's advice on the matter, it is clear that the Minister for Health or myself may not direct the HSE to publish the report. No legal basis has been identified that would permit the Minister or me to publish the report. The Attorney General is of the view that it would not be permissible for the Minister for Health to publish the report where the HSE, as the body responsible for publication under the NIRP guidelines, has determined the report should not be published. The NIRP guidelines give representations of confidentiality, and persons who participated in the process might rely upon those representations. Undertakings as to confidentiality and non-publication were also given, which might be relied upon. No detail was given as to HR inquiries, but publication of the contents of the report might adversely affect the conduct of any such inquiry or disciplinary procedures. In addition, redaction does not arise given the report should not be published and the Attorney General's office queried whether, in any event, any meaningful reduction was feasible.

Regarding the recent reports published by HIQA, like the Deputy I too was taken aback by the findings, particularly in the context of all we learned from the Brandon report. The recently published reports by HIQA relate to four inspections undertaken in September and October 2021 on the Ard Gréine campus. HIQA inspectors found there continued to be high levels of non-compliance in three of the four centres.

It is important to note that HIQA advises that, in these recent inspections, inspectors did not identify incidents of sexual abuse similar to those identified in the Brandon report. However, they did find that there were behavioural issues that were not being appropriately responded to. Inspectors required the HSE to address the issues immediately and to escalate its programme of change for the centre. I am advised that, in response, the HSE implemented a full reconfiguration of the Ard Greine campus, which it states will give stronger management oversight of the delivery of care. The HSE has submitted detailed compliance plans, and the overall management improvement plan for the campus is updated monthly for submission to HIQA to address these issues. I am told that the HSE plans have been accepted by the regulator and that implementation will be monitored by HIQA and senior management.

Separately, it is important to note that I await an update from the HSE regarding a file review it conducted in the community healthcare organisation, CHO, area for the period from 1991 to 2002, which reflects the period of time during which Brandon was in the care of disability services. Records were screened for all notations referring to any alleged or actual sexual conduct during that time. It is important that the dates the Deputy has mentioned here today also be taken into account as part of that review. I confirm to the Deputy that I will continue to engage with the HSE both locally and nationally on the issues raised by the Brandon report. I will read the rest of my speech in my concluding remarks.

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