Fine Gael has accused the Government of covering up a report into the death of teenager who died in 2002 while in the care of the health services.
The party today took the unusual step of publishing a Health Service Executive report into her death that the party claimed documented “the dysfunctional and chaotic approach” taken by the authorities.
Fine Gael TD Alan Shatter accused the Minister for Children Barry Andrews of reneging on a promise to publish the report, which was finalised in December 2008. "It is inexcusable, in a democratic society, that the systemic failures that resulted in her death be covered up for so long,” Mr Shatter said.
But Mr Andrews rejected suggestions that the report, which contains some 47 recommendations, had been suppressed, describing the death of the young woman as a tragedy.
He said the publication of such reports represented a “difficult balancing act” between the rights to privacy of family members, health professionals and the public's right to know how these services operate.
He accused Mr Shatter and Fine Gael of “steamrolling” over the privacy of the children and family members of the deceased.
“There was no suppression of the report. The truth of the matter is that since the report was finalised, the HSE has been in touch with the mother of the girl at the centre of the report and has been seeking to share the full content of the report with her before publication,” he said.
The girl came to the attention of the then Eastern Health Board (EHB) at a young age following several allegations of abuse during the 1990s.
She was placed in care by her mother shortly before her 15th birthday but was consistently moved from one residential care facility to another, the report said.
The report catalogued a litany of failures by the services to adequately accommodate the vulnerable young woman or to treat for her drug use. It noted that no addiction therapy was ever provided to deal with her abuse of drugs.
The report also said the young woman became increasingly sexualised and was sexually exploited and pimped during her time in care. She had two pregnancies each of which resulted in the birth of a baby who was subsequently taken into care.
In 2000, the EHB was ordered by the courts to provide her with more suitable accommodation and to draw up a care plan. While she was initially accommodated in two dedicated units exclusively for her use, she was forced to move out of one after only eight months when a ceiling fell in.
She was moved to an alternative adjacent unit where she lived until her death in January 2002.
The report highlighted maintenance problems with these units including frozen pipes, blocked toilets, a ceiling that caved in, windows that would not close and a back yard where raw sewage overflowed.
The report said the young woman left her accommodation on January 19th 2002 and did not return. Her body was found by gardaí some six days later.
