OPPOSITION politicians and child care representatives yesterday called for the publication of the report into the Kelly Fitzgerald case.
The legal representative of Kelly Fitzgerald's parents Desmond and Susan Fitzgerald they served 18 months in jail for the wilful neglect of their daughter said he would be seeking the full report on the circumstances of Kelly's death.
Mr Owen Keenan, director of Barnardos, who chaired the inquiry, said he was "extremely disappointed" the report had come into the public domain through a leak to a newspaper.
"I believe it is now all the more important that it be published in order that the extracts which have appeared in the press be set in the context of the report in its entirety."
The extracts were published in yesterday's Irish Independent.
The report should be submitted to the Dail's Committee on the Family so it could be discussed under full legal privilege, said Mr Terry Leyden of Fianna Fail.
Mr Austin Currie, the Minister of State for Health, said legislation would be introduced so that the Minister would be able to publish, under privilege, reports made to him by the inspectorate of social services, to be established within the Department of Health.
Neither the Minister nor any official of the Department had seen the report, said Mr Currie. The chief executive officer of the Western Health Board, Mr Eamonn Hannon, had now been asked to send the Department a copy and a copy of the legal advice relating to it.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said it was clear the report found the services of the Western Health Board "ineffective and naive". It called for the publication of the report and an open debate about child protection practice.
The Fianna Fail spokeswoman on health, Ms Maire Geoghegan Quinn, accused the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, of a "gross dereliction of duty" for not having previously requested a copy of the report from the WHB. The Progressive Democrats spokeswoman on health, Senator Cathy Honan, also asked why Mr Currie had not, up to yesterday morning, asked to see a copy of the report.
The former chairman of the Western Health Board, the Mayo GP, Dr Noel Rice, said he had received the report yesterday but had not read it. He was not unduly concerned that the board had the report for five months without publishing it as he did not believe it was attempting to hide anything.
Impact, the union which represents social workers in Co Mayo, has condemned the leaking of the report "by a member of the Western Health Board without any authorisation or discussion". The staff have not seen the report, it said, and, therefore, were not in a position to defend themselves.
Solicitor Mr Charles Kelly said the Fitzgeralds had contacted his office in Swinford, Co Mayo, yesterday but he had not spoken to them. "On behalf of the Fitzgeralds, we will be looking for a copy of the report from the Western Health Board. Now that it has been leaked, if nothing else, the Fitzgeralds are entitled to a copy."