The Government has appointed facilitators to begin work aimed at establishing two public statutory inquiries, into scoliosis and spina bifida care at Children's Health Ireland, and into the sexual abuse carried out by former hospital consultant Michael Shine in Drogheda.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said Senior Counsel Remy Farrell had been appointed as the facilitator with regard to scoliosis and spina bifida care at Children's Health Ireland.
Senior Counsel Lorcan Staines has been appointed to work as facilitator on the abuse carried out by the convicted sex offender Michael Shine.
Both facilitators are expected to begin work next week and to engage with survivors, patients and parents over a 16-week period.
Minister McNeill said those who had called for the inquiries had wanted to be involved in drafting the terms for them.
Speaking at the Department of Health she said: "It's better to have even a short period of real feedback from the people who have been impacted, so that they can be sure that they have influenced in the best way possible what they think needs to be involved.
"It's also important, I think, to go through and systematically look at the documents that are already available, and I think that will help shape a much tighter, much more impactful inquiry, ultimately."
Ms McNeill added that ultimately the decision to establish an inquiry had to be taken by the Government, but she was hopeful ministers could move forward with plans to do so this year.
Heel-prick screening for two new conditions
Meanwhile, two new conditions are to added to the heel prick test carried out on newborn babies in Ireland.
Screening for both Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is expected to commence in April this year.
The move is part of the Government's National Rare Disease Strategy and was announced today on World Rare Disease Day.
Ms Carroll MacNeill said that 300,000 people in Ireland suffer from a rare disease.
"The training has gone in, the resources have gone in, and we'll be starting that now in April," she said.
She said the strategy was also focusing on increasing education among healthcare professionals and investing in research, including collaborating with international partners to enable patients in Ireland to benefit from clinical trials, and the development of innovative treatments.
