Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 December 2004
217 Dr. Upton asked the Minister for Education and Science the steps that were taken to investigate an allegation in 1989 of sexual abuse in a centre (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31862/04]
View answerOfficials in my Department have confirmed with Trinity House School that a memo was received by the school in November 1989 from one of the authors of A Tragedy Waiting to Happen, referring to a non-specific allegation of sexual abuse of the person concerned at the school. As far as can be established, there are no records at the school indicating that the matter was investigated at the time.
Following the publication of the book, A Tragedy Waiting to Happen, which contains a detailed reference to assaults by a staff member at Trinity House School, the matter was forwarded in October 2004 to the Northern Area Health Board requesting that the allegation of sexual abuse be investigated in accordance with the child protection procedures pursuant to the appropriate guidelines. The guidelines in relation to child protection matters for the children detention schools, including Trinity House School, are documented in the Child Protection and Welfare Procedures and Guidelines for the Children Detention Schools 2002. This document incorporates the principles set out in Children First and in my Department’s child protection guidelines and procedures for primary schools, which was published in 2001.
As the Deputy may be aware, all relevant documentation held by my Department in relation to the sexual, physical and emotional abuse or neglect of children in the industrial and reformatory schools, including Trinity House School, has been forwarded to the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse in compliance with a discovery order from the commission in June 2003.
