Ombudsman orders inquiry into child protection audit
The Children's Ombudsman is to investigate whether the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive (HSE) failed to adequately demand key information from the Catholic bishops on sexual abuse during the child protection audit.
Ombudsman Emily Logan wants to find out if any child was adversely affected in any way as a result of the way in which the audit, conducted by the HSE, was carried out and managed. Ms Logan's probe will focus in particular on her concerns the HSE and the Department of Health failed to properly pursue the Catholic Bishops for information on specific allegations and cases of child abuse -- without naming anyone -- and the number of priests under investigation.
The refusal by bishops, on legal grounds, to complete Section 5 of the questionnaire sent to them by the HSE meant the final audit report had to acknowledge it could not confirm if child protection guidelines were being implemented on the ground.
The audit has been criticised as being of little value, particularly in light of the more thorough probe of the diocese of Cloyne carried out by the Catholic Church's own National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church.
A separate section of the audit, a review of the diocese of Cloyne, found Bishop John Magee breached standards by failing to tell the HSE of four cases of alleged abuse by priests. The bishop described this as a misunderstanding and the HSE refused to issue any reprimand for the actions.
This review only took place after a complaint was made to the Department of Health and would not have happened if the HSE was relying on its own limited audit alone.
Ms Logan said yesterday she has now sought documentation from both the HSE and the Department of Health on the audit. She has the power to compel documents to be produced and may yet decide to interview officials and Minister for Children Barry Andrews and his staff if needs be.
- Eilish O'Regan Health Correspondent
