Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

There was no intention to amend the law on publication. The same principles that apply prior to the enactment of this legislation regarding the ability of the HSE to publish will still apply to the Minister. The Bill is about creating a safe channel of communication to get the files from the executive to the Minister, who, in turn, can furnish them to persons appointed to investigate an issue. There was never any intention to address the publication issue and if there had been, it would have taken significant effort and consultation. There are specific legal grounds limiting publication in this area. With regard to child law, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is clear that when we consider the best interests of the child, his or her privacy and the fact he or she was in care must be respected.

However, the problem then we are faced with is how to balance the public interest in having this information in the public domain against those privacy rights. Being able to publish something is a challenge because that balance is not easily achieved. If one wants to hold a non-statutory inquiry that is quick and not costly to avoid tribunals and lawyers, that is a difficult balance to achieve. There was never any intention to amend the law on publication because it would have been complex and I am not sure there is a great deal of merit in the arguments to do so. However, it is crucial for public consideration of the child care system that we produce timely and publishable reports. That will not be easy and that is why the independent review panel under the chairmanship of Dr. Helen Buckley has been set up. Its members are independent, professional and the panel has been set up so that we can get this information into the public domain. I am not willing to accept the amendment for that reason.