A south Eastern Health Board report on its handling of the sex abuse scandal in Monageer, Co Wexford, is to be made public today. The board is to publish a report it sent to the Department of Health in 1996 after queries were raised about how it dealt with the abuse of 11 young girls by the late Father Jim Grennan in 1988.
The case is being examined as part of the preliminary investigation into how various agencies handled cases of sex abuse by priests in the diocese of Ferns. Mr George Birmingham SC, who is conducting the investigation, will report to the Government on what type of official inquiry should take place. The health board, the Garda and the Catholic Church may all have questions to answer. The Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, recently expressed dissatisfaction with the way the case had been investigated. Local gardaí were directed not to make copies of statements they took during their investigation and to send the file to Garda headquarters in Wexford. It has been missing since.
Concerns about the health board's handling of the case were raised by a then chairman of the board, Mr Gary O'Halloran, in 1996. After the complaint, the Department of Health requested a report from the board about the Monageer episode. Earlier this month, the board's acting chief executive, Mr John Magner, said staff had responded in the appropriate way to any notifications of sex abuse by priests.
