An inquiry began yesterday into the deaths of a family of four whose bodies were found in their house in Monageer, Co Wexford last year.
Adrian Dunne (29), his wife Ciara (24) and their two children, five-year-old Leanne and three-year-old Shania, were found dead last April, three days after the family visited an undertaker to arrange how the couple and their children were to be buried. It later emerged that the authorities had been made aware of a risk to the safety of the children.
The new inquiry, which is taking place at an undisclosed location in Dublin and is closed to the public, will seek to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths, document the involvement of State services and look into how the various bodies co-operated with each other.
Under the terms of reference, the inquiry team is also instructed to make recommendations to the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Justice as to how such an event may, as far as possible, be avoided in future.
Chaired by barrister Kate Brosnan, the inquiry's members also include retired assistant Garda commissioner Jim McHugh and Leonie Lunny, chief executive of the Citizens Information Board.
They were initially appointed last June but it was decided to delay their work until the Garda report into the tragedy had been completed. This was received by Minister for Children Brendan Smith last November.
The inquiry may make recommendations regarding childcare services not operating during out-of-work hours. It is understood that the Health Service Executive was alerted about the Dunne case almost 24 hours after concerns were first reported to gardaí. A senior HSE official checked up on the family and found there was no record of the children being at risk.
In the absence of an out-of-hours social-work service over the weekend, the official reminded gardaí that their options were to remove the children themselves and bring them to hospital, or contact the Caredoc service for medical emergencies.
The inquiry may also focus on whether authorities have sufficient legal powers to intervene in such cases. The Childcare Act (1991) gives gardaí and the HSE substantial powers to intervene to safeguard the welfare of children, with section 12 permitting officers to enter any house without a warrant to remove a child from danger. However, it is a power rarely used without background information being supplied by social workers.
The inquiry team will report to the Government within three months. Announcing its terms of reference yesterday, Mr Smith said it should "greatly help our understanding of these tragic events and thus enable the improvement of services in the future."
A spokeswoman for Mr Smith said a decision on whether to release its findings would be made by the relevant Ministers on receipt of the report.
A sister of Adrian Dunne said yesterday it was unfair to assume that her brother was solely responsible for the tragedy. "I feel bad that there is the perception that Adrian is supposed to have done it all. Anyone that has that perception didn't know Adrian and Ciara. Adrian wasn't domineering over Ciara as has been said and Ciara could stick up for herself," Bridget Dunne said in a Newstalk interview.
