‘Files go missing in child vaccine inquiry’ is the lead headline in this morning’s Irish Independent, shedding further light on yesterday’s revelations that children in the care of the state were subjected to medical trials during the 1960s and 70s.
The deputy chairman of the Dáil, Brendan Howlin, who was Labour Minister for Health in 1993, yesterday assured victims that an inquiry found that they suffered no ill-effects from the medical tests, but mystery surrounds the whereabouts of the files relating to the inquiry, while Howlin admitted he did not remember the probe or its findings.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said yesterday, “Until all files are retrieved, the department cannot say if the results of the inquiry exist.â€
‘Teacher union warns of ‘chaos’ over failure to fill posts’ accompanies the main story on the front page of this morning’s Irish Times.
The Department of Education are faced with the prospect of hundreds of middle-management positions being left un-filled in second-level schools, with second level teaching unions such as the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) remaining strongly opposed to reforms proposed under the Croke Park agreement.
The Department of Education are to step up efforts to resolve the crisis, which the teaching unions believe could create chaos in second level schools across the country.
The Irish Examiner leads with the headline ‘Over 200 pupils to be tested after TB outbreak’.
The Examiner reveals that the HSE have confirmed that three pupils from the Ballintemple National School in Crab Lane in the suburbs of Cork city have contracted the disease and are under specialist paediatric care. A full course of anti-tuberculosis treatment takes up nine months.
Approximately 220 children and staff from the school will be screened to see if the disease has spread any further, while parents of the affected children have also been offered screening.
