HSE chief admits officials involved in Grace case still work for TUSLA

HSE officials who were involved in the Grace foster abuse case who are still in their jobs are now subject to disciplinary procedures, Director General Tony O'Brien has confirmed, writes Daniel McConnell and Fiachra O Cionnaith.

HSE chief admits officials involved in Grace case still work for TUSLA

Update 6.50pm: HSE officials who were involved in the Grace foster abuse case who are still in their jobs are now subject to disciplinary procedures, Director General Tony O'Brien has confirmed, writes Daniel McConnell and Fiachra O Cionnaith.

Speaking before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Mr O'Brien clarified earlier comments he gave and confirmed that three people of a five person panel which decided to leave Grace in a foster home at the heart of the scandal remain in the employment of the public service.

He had earlier said that all three people who mishandled the Grace case had left the service and were in reciept of full HSE pensions.

He confirmed that a number of those persons were now working with Tusla, the State's child protection agency.

During very tetchy exchanges with committee members, Mr O'Brien admitted that a botched apology to Grace was a result of a “extraordinary series of mistakes, a monumental cock-up".

Mr O'Brien was pressed repeatedly about the delays in publishing two reports into the scandal and he confirmed that permission was only sought by the HSE to publish the reports in 2015.

He confirmed that prior to that, the HSE did not seek permission to publish one report, which had been concluded as far back as 2012, clarifying that the HSE adherred to standard practice in not publishing a report where a live Garda investigation was ongoing.

Sinn Fein's David Culinane was highly crtitical of Mr O'Brien's replies accusing Mr O'Brien of “stone-walling”which he described as “unacceptable”.

Labour's Alan Kelly also pressed Mr O'Brien on the procurement of the two reports, which were not subject to normal procurement procedures.

For its part, Tusla confirmed that the Conal Devine report, which was published by the HSE last month, refers to six Tusla staff members.

“These staff members were identified to Tusla by the HSE in the weeks preceding the report’s publication. Tusla met with staff concerned to advise them of the publication of both this and the Resilience Ireland report and has completed an initial HR review process. Tusla is currently examining both reports in detail and will further review the individual staff involvement in the case at the time. If any issues emerge as a result of this review, further HR processes will be invoked, as necessary,” a statement detailed.

“Tusla is actively liaising with an Garda Síochána to ensure that our own internal review processes do not impede their separate, ongoing investigation. Additionally, we will fully cooperate with the forthcoming Commission of Inquiry. Given the sensitivity of this issue and the ongoing processes both internal and external to Tusla, it would not be appropriate to comment further or identify the individuals involved at this time,” the statement added.

Earlier: The head of the HSE has admitted that a senior official involved in the 'Grace' foster case scandal still works for the child and family agency TUSLA.

Tony O'Brien had previously told the Public Accounts Committee last year that none of the three person panel involved in the decision to leave 'Grace' in the foster home still worked in the public service.

Today he had to admit that was wrong, but insisted he had not intentionally tried to mislead the P.A.C.

"I've just corrected part of the record of that committee, which means that the information that I gave was not accurate.

"I do accept that.

"That is the only correction I wish to offer. If the question is did I actively mislead the committee the answer is I did not."

more courts articles

Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van Man appears in court charged with false imprisonment of woman in van
Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman Man in court over alleged false imprisonment of woman
Coronation Street actor William Roache (91) given three months to settle tax debt Coronation Street actor William Roache (91) given three months to settle tax debt

More in this section

In pictures: St Patrick's Day delight as sun shines on parades In pictures: St Patrick's Day delight as sun shines on parades
Seized devices key to smashing drug ring behind missing cocaine, gardaí believe Seized devices key to smashing drug ring behind missing cocaine, gardaí believe
Bishop Leahy speech 'Warm fire of hospitality' can't be replaced by 'raging fires of division', says bishop
War_map
Cookie Policy Privacy Policy Brand Safety FAQ Help Contact Us Terms and Conditions

© Examiner Echo Group Limited