Call For All Previous Ministers For Health In Cabinet To Attend Dáil Q&A Session On Department Of Health Files On Children With Autism

In a statement this afternoon Richard Boyd Barrett TD said that he has written to the Business Committee agreeing with other deputies that there should be a session in the Dáil this week to discuss the very serious reports that the Department of Health gathering secret files on children with autism. 

Deputy Boyd Barrett is requesting that the Q&A session be attended by the current Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD, and all previous Ministers of Health currently holding cabinet positions- An Taoiseach, An Tánaiste and Minister Simon Harris TD.

Richard Boyd Barrett TD said: “The idea that the Department of Health was compiling and holding secret files of confidential data on some of the most vulnerable people in society just beggars belief. 

“There are so many questions to be answered and it is obvious that the current Minister will not have all the answers as the timeline for the gathering of this information seems to date from before his time.  We are lucky to have three other former Ministers of Health in the cabinet and they may well have information on this practice, and they need to present themselves for questions.”