A “scoping exercise” that could ultimately lead to a formal inquiry into convicted sex offender and former hospital consultant Michael Shine has been agreed by Government.
Shine is alleged to have sexually abused hundreds of boys and young men to whom he had access during his time as a surgeon at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
Now in his mid-90s, he was convicted in 2017 and 2019 of sexual offences and in 2020 he was convicted of assaulting seven boys between 1971 and 1992. He served three years in prison.
The Co Louth-based charity Dignity4Patients, which supports more than 390 survivors, has been calling for a commission of investigation.
RM Block
The organisation expects the “scoping exercise” agreed by Government on Wednesday will lead to a formal inquiry.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill met representatives of Dignity4Patients earlier this week and on Wednesday Cabinet agreed to a time-bound “scoping exercise” to be undertaken by an “independent person”.
A statement from the Department of Health said: “The draft terms of reference for a scoping exercise will be finalised following engagement with Dignity4Patients and other relevant Government departments.”
The Department of Health will consult with the Office of the Attorney General.
The independent person will report to Government with recommendations for an “appropriate and bespoke response to the issues raised and the needs identified by Dignity4Patients on behalf of the victims and survivors of Michael Shine”, the department said.
In a statement, Dignity4Patients said: “Victims and survivors of former surgeon and convicted sexual offender Michael Shine welcome a commitment from Minister for Health and the Government to establish a 16-week ‘scoping exercise’ to help set the foundations for a statutory inquiry process into institutions and authorities that allowed decades of abuse by convicted sexual offender Michael Shine.”
The group, along with victim representative Cianan Murray and solicitor Diarmuid Brecknell, said it had attended a very positive meeting in the Department of Health on Monday.
It said Ms Carroll MacNeill and her officials outlined their intention to start a two-phased process to bring about a formal inquiry.
“Today, victims and survivors welcome the fact that the Minister and the Government appear to have listened to their call for a statutory inquiry,” the charity’s chief executive, Adrienne Reilly, said. It was hoped this “victim-centred process” would lead to “an inquiry with full legal powers to compel individuals and organisations to appear”.
Victims are said to “remain cautiously optimistic as they enter the first cycle of engagement”.
Cianan Murray, who first reported his allegations to An Garda Síochána in 1995, said it was a “bittersweet day”, long overdue.
“Many victims are sadly no longer with us, and all have endured decades of trauma, silence and suffering,” he said.
“Finally, today, this is a real opportunity for victims and survivors to have their voices heard and believed and for their experiences to be fully investigated and officially acknowledged.”
