Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 244: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if her attention has been drawn to a report from a person (details supplied) which her Department received in January 1967 regarding the industrial and reformatory schools; if the documentation in her Department relating to the report contains reference to correspondence and a meeting in autumn 1964 between the author of the report and the then Minister for Justice; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36188/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has records of correspondence in the period 1965 to 1967 between the person mentioned by the Deputy and the then Minister for Education with regard to juvenile offenders and problems encountered by those who subsequently emigrated to Britain. The Department has no record of any report on the matter from the person concerned nor does it have any record of a meeting with the then Minister for Justice on the matter. The correspondence was not provided to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse as it was not deemed by legal counsel to be directly relevant to the inquiry and did not come within the scope of commission discovery orders.

Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the date on which her Department first became aware of a complaint from a person (details supplied) in County Waterford; the steps her Department have taken to have the matter investigated; if and when her Department gave the Garda documents from its files to assist in the investigation of the matters subject of this complaint; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36190/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Records indicate that my Department was first advised in 1991 by the principal of the school referred to by the Deputy of this complaint and the investigation involving the school and the health board into it. This investigation concluded that the allegations were unfounded. Following the subsequent referral of the matter to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse by the complainant, my Department commissioned an independent assessment of the initial investigation. This assessment concluded that the initial investigation was seriously flawed and that its outcome was not satisfactory. In 1994, following fresh allegations of abuse of children at the school, a Garda investigation was carried out. At the conclusion of this investigation, the Director of Public Prosecutions directed that there was no evidence to support these allegations.

As part of an overall investigation into allegations of abuse at the school the Garda, in conjunction with the Eastern Health Board, my Department and the management of the school initiated a look-back investigation in 1996. This involved interviews with a sample of former residents and identified a number of allegations of abuse. Arising from this investigation, files were sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions regarding allegations of abuse at the industrial school. My Department provided every possible assistance to the Garda and made available all relevant records in this regard.