Donegal TD calls again for sexual abuse report to be published

Donegal TD Thomas Pringle has called again for the publication of a Health Service Executive report into sexual abuse at a Donegal disability services centre.

The independent TD repeated in the Dáil his call for the publication of the report by the National Independent Review Panel into sexual abuse at Ard Gréine Court in Stranorlar.

Early last month Deputy Pringle called on the Tánaiste to publish the report. The deputy said there has been no movement from the HSE on publication since.

Deputy Pringle first raised the Brandon report in the Dáil in July, after working with a whistleblower who had come to him in 2016. Deputy Pringle said he raised the issue in the Dáil due to the lack of an adequate response during those years.

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The deputy read from the report into the Dáil record this week for a total of about 20 minutes, during his speaking opportunities on Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon on the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2021.

Speaking later, Deputy Pringle said: “The HSE, gardaí and Hiqa all have questions to answer in relation to how they responded – or didn’t respond – to the needs of very vulnerable people. This was a catastrophic failure, and the report must be published to give families the answers they have been seeking for too long.”

In response to Deputy Pringle’s remarks last month, the Tánaiste told Deputy Pringle that the Government would press the HSE and gardaí to have the report published and said Minister Anne Rabbitte had also indicated that the focus must be on ensuring that the report’s findings and recommendations are appropriately dealt with.