The Minister of State for Disabilities Anne Rabbitte is seeking an urgent meeting with the HSE and Tusla after learning how a young intellectually-disabled boy was sexually assaulted in a HSE-funded residential care centre.
The 12-year-old boy was victim of two separate assaults by another resident at the centre in recent weeks.
In one instance, the boy was found covered in faeces after he was locked in his bedroom by the perpetrator, with staff at the centre unable to find keys to unlock the door and end the attack.
"I was very shocked with what I had heard and what I have read. I'm very disappointed and very concerned. I can't imagine how the family feel in this situation", said Minister Rabbitte to RTÉ's Drivetime.
"It's not acceptable and that's one of the reasons in the follow-up of what has been published in the last 24 hours, I'm going to organise a meeting with the HSE and Tusla and service provider."
Minister Rabbitte confirmed she has requested for the meeting to happen over the coming days.
12-year-old "Fionn" - not his real name - is severely autistic, has moderate intellectual disability and ADHD. He requires constant supervision and assistance and struggles to verbalise.
As his family struggled to looked after him, Fionn was placed under the legal care of Tusla which along with the HSE, co-funds his placement in residential care.
"I'm also going to reach out to the family to have a meeting with them, to get answers. I think there is a need for a lot of answers here," Minister Rabbitte said.
"There needs to be clarity brought to the situation as to how this happened and how we had repeated incidents as well. I can't stand over that carry on."
A report on this incident compiled by the service provider - seen by RTÉ - shows how the centre did not notify the boy's mother for almost three days after the September assault.
The centre also did not notify the child and family agency Tusla for three days and reported the incident to gardaí after 11 days.
"That's not acceptable by any manner of means," Minister Rabbitte said.
According to the report by the service provider, the other resident ran into Fionn's bedroom when he was sleeping and locked himself in with Fionn for around four minutes.
Centre staff were unable to get access to the room for the duration of the assault.
The Galway East TD said the first she heard of the incident was when it was reported by RTÉ.
"I feel very let down as a hands-on minister who likes to know what's going on," she said.
"And as I have a huge interest in safeguarding, for me not to be made aware of this, I feel very disappointed.
"They should not be a frequent event. They should be a red flag. But I'd prefer not to be hearing about them all as there should be no such incidents at children's or adults' residential units"
After receiving notifications from the service provider, Tusla and the boy's mother, gardaí are conducting a sexual abuse investigation in connection with the incident.
A spokesperson for the HSE said it takes its responsibilities in this area very seriously.
They said when an event - such as what happened to Fionn - takes place, the service provider should make contact with a HSE Disability Manager as soon as possible and issue a Serious Event Notification.
The HSE also said an allegation - such as what happened here -- would be escalated to the Head of Disability Services for the area and trigger an emergency meeting and that HSE personnel would visit the residential centre itself, to ensure the health and safety of those there.
The HSE says it is not aware of any delays in reporting major incidents in child disability services recently.
The service provider for Fionn's care declined to comment, saying it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases.
A spokesperson for Tusla says the agency consistently monitors children in care but added how it hopes to incrementally reduce the dependency on private residential care in the years ahead.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this report support is available at rte.ie/helplines.
