Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the decision to hold a public inquiry into sexual abuse carried out by former consultant surgeon Michael Shine is a matter for Government as a whole, after Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly indicated it was not an issue for his department.
Mr Harris said he has “little tolerance” for the shifting of responsibility from one department to another, in comments which will be read as a criticism of Mr Donnelly.
Mr Donnelly previously said it was “not a healthcare issue” and that considerations around a statutory inquiry were a matter for Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, the Taoiseach and party leaders.
Speaking on Tuesday morning in Dublin, Mr Harris appeared to reject these comments and said it was an issue “for the Government as a whole”.
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“What I’m not going to tolerate is an idea of that is a matter for anybody else. It’s a matter for the Government as a whole and these victims deserve a whole-of-government, victim-centred approach. I have little tolerance for ‘that’s a matter for this department or that’s a matter for that department’. This is a matter for the Government, Ireland Inc, standing up and supporting victims.
“I am conscious of the fact that there have been a number of strands of investigation, if I may call it that. There has been a court process, criminal and civil, there have been reports done,” the Taoiseach said.
“What I’ve now asked for is that we would stocktake at where we’re actually at now, what is possible in terms of information being given or published and also what’s possible in terms of next steps.
“I think it is appropriate that the Government will engage with victims and their representatives. Mr Shine is a vile individual who has brought pain and misery to the lives of many and it’s important that we support those victims,” Mr Harris said.
In comments originally made to The Journal, Mr Donnelly said “any calls around a statutory inquiry is a matter for [the Department of] Justice. I’ll leave any considerations of that to Helen McEntee and the Taoiseach and party leaders. It’s not a healthcare issue,” he said.
Hundreds of men claim they were abused, over decades, by the former surgeon, now 93, who served three years in prison. Care and support group Dignity4Patients is calling for a public inquiry into the sexual abuse carried out by Shine, who worked at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, from 1964 until 1995. He was struck off the medical register in 2008.
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