Open Letter to Stakeholders - Secretary General of the Department of Health
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Health
Published on
Last updated on
I am writing to notify you that the Department of Health has appointed Mr Donie O’Shea as an Independent Support Liaison Officer to engage directly with the families involved in recent allegations on the RTÉ Prime Time programme regarding the collection of data for litigation purposes.
The department can confirm that no more than 35 families are involved in open litigation related to these allegations. Each of these families will be contacted shortly through their solicitor offering the opportunity to engage directly with the Independent Support Liaison Officer.
The department regrets the distress recent media reports may have had on the families involved and is taking steps to ensure that they, and others associated with autism services, are listened to and supported.
The department is committed to publishing the Independent Expert Review by an external Senior Counsel, that was commissioned after allegations were brought to the attention of the department last year. Due to legal implications, including protocols around publishing a protected disclosure and the department’s desire to protect the rights of the discloser, the department is continuing to engage with legal counsel and aims to publish the report next week.
I can confirm that the review found that there was no basis to suggest wrongdoing arising from the allegations made by the discloser.
Again, I would like to reiterate that the Department of Health has never gathered sensitive medical and educational information on children involved in court cases in the manner portrayed in recent media reports.
A team within the Department of Health has been established to assess the facts in respect of the specific allegations made to RTÉ Prime Time programme on 25 March 2021. The team has identified a single video recording in one case file. This video was provided to the department as co-defendants to the litigation, by the Plaintiff’s Solicitors. At no time did the department seek such videos. This review is ongoing and will deal with each of the reported allegations.
The department welcomes an inquiry by the Data Protection Commission (DPC), who is currently investigating data collection practices regarding these cases. I, as Secretary General, along with officials in the department look forward to the findings of this review and where necessary will make improvements based on their recommendations.
The Department of Health is committed to continuing engagement with service providers to improve supports for service users, which will hopefully reduce the need of service users to seek litigation.
Our goal is, and always has been, the improvement of health services for the people of Ireland. This government has provided an unprecedented €100 million additional funding for new developments in 2021, bringing the total funding for disability services to €2.2bn.
Developments in relation to children’s disability services include:
Your role as stakeholders to the Department of Health, representing many patients and families affected by autism is valued and we will continue to engage and inform you of updates regarding this issue going forward.
Kind regards,
Robert.