HSE Director summoned to correct Public Accounts Committee Record – Fleming

Sean Fleming TD has secured the agreement at the Public Accounts Committee to demand the attendance of Ms. Laverne McGuinness, HSE National Director of Primary Community and Continuing Care at the next Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting which will be held on Thursday the 10th of June.

This arises from the situation that in answering questions from Deputy Sean Fleming at the PAC on the 4th of March 2010 Ms. Laverne McGuinness in public session stated, “Twenty children have died in the care of the health services over the past ten years. Some of them died from natural causes, as a result of congenital defects, or by misadventure.”

Last Friday the HSE stated that 37 children died in care during the past 10 years of natural and unnatural causes.

Deputy Fleming stated

“It is now clear that we were given wrong, untrue and inaccurate information on a most important and sensitive issue. The HSE now know this to be the case and yet have not attempted to correct the information that they gave to the Public Accounts Committee in March.”

“I am putting down a marker that all witnesses who appear before the Public Accounts Committee must ensure that their evidence stands up. Where this is not the case they must realise that there are consequences and the PAC will not let the matter go.”

“The PAC has a unique role in holding senior management in the HSE, Government Departments and other public bodies to account. These people cannot attend in the Dáil Chamber and they must be made accountable to the public by the Public Accounts Committee.”

“My primary thoughts are with the 37 children who died while in care. We must ensure that their deaths were not in vain and that lessons will be learned to help those children in the care of the State in the future,” concluded Deputy Fleming.