‘Possible’ for parts of child spinal care inquiry to be public, minister says

A commission of investigation into child spinal care would encourage participation more than a tribunal in public, the Health Minister has suggested.

The report of a scoping exercise for an inquiry into Children’s Health Ireland care for spina bifida and complex scoliosis recommended a commission of investigation rather than a public tribunal of inquiry.

The scoping exercise was conducted by Remy Farrell SC and its report was published on Monday.

The Government has accepted its recommendations and is pursuing the establishment of a commission of investigation.

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said Mr Farrell had suggested that the model of private sittings could encourage participation.

“There may be families who don’t wish to participate in this at all in any circumstances.

“But where we want to encourage participation, Mr Farrell suggests that that is better done by having it default in private.”

Asked if she was concerned that families would not engage due to dissatisfaction that the inquiry will not take the form of a public tribunal, she said: “There are widely divergent views and there are some who don’t believe that a commission is sufficient.

“They would like every element of this to be dealt with in public, which would be the tribunal of inquiry mode, and then there are other parents who very definitely want it in private.

“A commission of investigation is a statutory investigation with full legal powers of compellability of documents and witnesses, and it produces a report that’s very much in public.”

Ms Carroll MacNeill said this was important in respecting the privacy of child medical records but added it was “entirely possible” for elements of the commission to be held in public.

Asked about concerns families will not participate, she told RTÉ’s News At One she was seeking the “broadest representation of people impacted possible” and said the process would “leave the door open for anybody who wants to come”.

Sinn Féin said it must be ensured that the inquiry “delivers answers” for families and examines what happened to children “not simply what went wrong with systems and waiting lists”.

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald said: “They deserve more than an examination of systems, processes and waiting lists.

“They deserve to know what happened to their children, why it happened and how those failures were allowed to occur.”

She added: ““Any inquiry must be broad enough to establish the full facts.

“It must examine the impact that delays and failures in care had on children, including whether their conditions deteriorated, whether their treatment options changed and whether they suffered poorer outcomes as a result.”

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the proposed commission is “another failure” for children as he demanded a public tribunal inquiry.

“The Commission of Investigation would be restricted to administrative examination of waiting lists, processes and dates.

“This is far too narrow.”

He added: “The Government has paid lip service to the idea of centring the victims of the various scandals in CHI, but has refused to actually do so.

“They should now be listened to and a Tribunal must be enabled to find out what actually happened to children.

“It must examine the wider system of care, the progression of their scoliosis, the deterioration of their condition and the impact on their childhood.”

The Social Democrats said the inquiry will be meaningless without buy-in from the most-affected families.

Health spokesman Padraig Rice said: “The minister must not squander this opportunity to establish a truly child-centred inquiry.

“She must urgently meet with parents and hear them out. She cannot move forward with drafting terms of reference without answering their questions and addressing their concerns.

“An inquiry must deliver transparency, accountability and a comprehensive examination of what happened to these children.”