Harney denies findings 'buried'

The Minister for Health Mary Harney has denied that there was any attempt to "bury" the report into the Leas Cross scandal by releasing it on the same day as the "Bord Snip" cost-cutting proposals.

Speaking on RTÉ's Marian Finucaneshow this afternoon, Ms Harney confirmed she had received the report on June 10th but said a number of other steps had to be carried out before it could be published.

She said the advice of Attorney General was sought as there were "huge legal issues" in relation to the report. Legal correspondence from some of the parties affected by the reports had been received as late as Tuesday evening, she said.

Ms Harney said her attendance at an EU ministers meeting on July 7th delayed its submission for approval by the Government. Instead, it was approved the following week.

"There was never any question that this would go out below the radar," she said. "These facts came into the public attention because of Prime Time, and that's mentioned in the report. It was clear that it wasn't going to be ignored."

Ms Harney said when the timeframe for publishing the Leas Cross report was agreed, she was unaware that the McCarthy report would be published, and had been asked by the relatives of families involved with Leas Cross to publish the report as soon as possible.

"This was a genuine effort to do things firstly in accordance with the law, secondly to respect the right of the families to have an advance copy of the report, and I thought it was reasonable to give them 24 hours, and thirdly to publish the report," she said.

When questioned on the new inspection regime brought in following the Leas Cross revelations, Ms Harney insisted things had changed with the introduction of statutory regulation and an independent inspectorate, with on-the-spot checks carried out.

Public nursing homes would also be inspected under the regime, she said.

Ms Harney said similar incidents would not go undetected in the future.