The Irish Medical Organisation's former industrial relations director, Conal Devine, has been appointed as chairman of the independent inquiry into the case of childcare specialist Dr Niall McElwee.
Dr McElwee resigned from his post at the Athlone Institute of Technology two weeks ago after it emerged that he was convicted of attempted indecent assault in the Netherlands in 2005.
The inquiry was established by the Health Service Executive (HSE) following revelations that gardaí had reported the incident to the former Midland Health Board nearly three years ago.
The HSE said yesterday that Mr Devine, who is now a management consultant, had carried out a large number of reviews and investigations in respect of child protection issues and in the broader health area.
It said additional independent child protection experts from abroad would be commissioned to assist the inquiry.
The HSE said the findings would be made public, subject to any legal restrictions. "Draft terms of reference for the review inquiry have been drawn up and these will now be considered by the chair prior to final agreement. It is expected that the inquiry will commence as soon as possible thereafter.
"The HSE is committed to establishing the full facts of what information was available to the Midland Health Board at the time and will seek the co-operation of the gardaí with this inquiry, particularly in establishing the exact sequence of events and information shared," it stated.
Minister for Children Brendan Smith said the events had "clearly raised very serious concerns".
