HSE apologises to Children's Ombudsman

Updated: 22:15, Friday, 8 May 2009

The HSE has apologised to the Ombudsman for Children, saying an administrative error by a firm of solicitors acting on its behalf had resulted in a full file not being sent to her office.

1 of 1Emily Logan - Suspended investigation
Emily Logan - Suspended investigation

Earlier this week, Emily Logan suspended her investigation into the Health Service Executive's handling of the Child Protection Audit of Catholic Church dioceses because of, what she called, a lack of co-operation from the HSE.

In January the HSE published an audit into child protection practices in Catholic Church dioceses.

The majority of dioceses said they were unable to fill in section five of the audit for legal reasons.

The bishops sought clarification on the wording.

The Ombudsman for Children said she had concerns that HSE and the Department of Health had accepted this decision

In January, the Ombudsman began an investigation into the HSE and department's handling of audit to see if any child had been adversely affected and if there was mal-administration.

HSE had offered its full cooperation.

However, earlier this week the Ombudsman suspended her investigation saying the HSE had not supplied her office with the necessary documentation.

But, in a statement tonight the Ombudsman said that a file had been handed over today and her office would be examining it before deciding whether or not to proceed with the investigation.

A spokeswoman for the Ombudsman said that a decision would be made in the coming weeks.

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