THE Eastern Health Board is investigating allegations of sexual abuse prior to the late 1980s at Finglas Children's Centre in Dublin following a letter from the Fianna Fail leader Mr Bertie Ahern.
The centre is made up of St Laurence's Special School for Boys and St Michael's Remand and Assessment Centre. Until last year it was run on behalf of the Department of Education by the De La Salle order and is now run directly by the Department.
The investigation originates in complaints by a former high ranking civil servant in the Department of Education Ms Loreto Byrne. She says that she became aware in 1988 when she has an assistant principal in the Department that complaints of sexual abuse at Finglas Children Centre had not been fully instigated.
Shortly afterwards she returned to the Department of Finance from which she had been on loan. She left the Department of Finance on early retirement in 1992.
She has also alleged that no former residents of the centre were interviewed in a Garda investigation in 1994 which found no evidence of sexual abuse. The Garda Press Office has declined to comment on her claim.
The Department of Education takes the view that the allegations were investigated in 1994 which appears to confirm Ms Byrne's complaint that they were not fully investigated previously.
The Department has also acknowledged that concerns raised by Ms Byrne led to the discovery of financial "control weaknesses" at Finglas Children's Centre and of weakness in the financials item at Trinity House a secure special school in Dublin.