There was widespread criticism of the terms of reference published by the Health Service Executive (HSE) yesterday for an inquiry into the Dr Niall McElwee affair.
Opposition parties and a number of child welfare organisations claimed the terms of reference for the inquiry were not broad enough.
The terms of reference refer to Dr McElwee's time at Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), from which he resigned two weeks ago after admitting he had been convicted of indecent assault on teenage girls in the Netherlands. He had been director of the college's Centre for Child and Youth Care Learning.
However, they make no reference to investigating his time at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) where he was warned about using explicit pictures of sexually abused children during his lectures. His students complained to the former South Eastern Health Board about this.
The Children's Rights Alliance said it was disappointed that the terms of reference were not focused on establishing the full facts surrounding the McElwee case, while Barnardos said the fact that there was no mention of WIT meant the inquiry would not start at the beginning.
However, the HSE defended the terms of reference and said any complaints ever made to the former health boards or more recently to the HSE about Dr McElwee would be looked at by the inquiry.
The inquiry will be chaired by the former director of industrial relations with the Irish Medical Organisation, Conal Devine.
A spokeswoman for Minister of State for Children Brendan Smith said: "The Minister for Children is satisfied that the terms of reference are broad enough to allow Mr Devine to undertake a comprehensive and thorough investigation into the matter."
Caroline O'Sullivan, assistant director of services with the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said she could understand the calls for WIT to be included in the terms of reference but the focus had to be on how somebody with a conviction for a sexual offence could continue in a role such as Dr McElwee had in Athlone without his employer being notified.
Gardaí have claimed the Midland Health Board had been made aware of the incident in 2004 which led to Dr McElwee's conviction. Dr McElwee joined AIT in 2001.
Meanwhile, the HSE said it hoped the inquiry would be completed quickly. It said its findings would be published if there are no legal impediments to doing so.
Fine Gael health spokesman Brian Hayes said if the HSE was committed to establishing the full facts of what information was available to the health services in relation to Dr McElwee, as it claimed it was, it would not exclude his time at WIT from its investigation. Labour health spokeswoman Liz McManus said it was unacceptable that there was no timeframe for the inquiry.
The HSE said the inquiry will compile a chronology of what information was in the possession of the HSE from sources such as An Garda Síochána, departments of State and AIT in regard to "any matter pertaining to child protection issues touching on or concerning Dr McElwee". It would also look at the existing processes for the collection, evaluation and use of this category of information, and compare it with processes in place in other countries and make recommendations.