http://support.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=656312&issue_id=6550
Irish Independent
December 14, 2001
Anger over report delay on allegations of child abuse
Eilish O'Regan
Families
involved in the inquiry into retired GP Dr Moira Woods last night threatened to
go to the High Court after it emerged they will have to wait until January to
hear if the report on the case is to be made public.
Dr Woods has been found guilty of professional misconduct arising out of
allegations that she wrongly accused five families of sexually abusing their
children in the 1980s.
A number of the mothers were in tears last night after leaving the headquarters
of the Medical Council in Dublin where legal submissions, on whether the report
on the case be published, were made.
The case has been heard by the Fitness to Practice Committee of the doctors'
regulatory body and a full council meeting is to convene at the end of January
to decide what sanction, if any, should be brought against Dr Woods, a former
Director of the Sexual Assault Treatment unit in the Rotunda Hospital.
The families were excluded from proceedings last night and asked to wait in a
nearby room at the offices while the submissions were being made.
However, after a wait of more than two and a half hours they were told a
decision to publish the report will not be finalised until the council meets in
January.
It was unclear last night if the council was under legal constraint in
postponing a decision on whether or not to report is to be published.
Lawyers for Dr Woods, who was not present last night, were free to make a
number of submissions.
"This is very distressing and cruel. We have waited so long and now we
will have to spend another Christmas without knowing if this report will be
published," said one of the mothers.
The families said they will now consider if they should go to the High Court to
seek an order for the publication of the report or obtain clarification of a
ruling on the case which was handed down by Justice Barr.
The families also said they will be seeking an apology from the government and
the Department of Health and they believe a public inquiry should be held to
put all the evidence in the open.
They also indicated they will be seeking interim compensation for the distress
and trauma which they have endured. The Eastern Health Board and the Rotunda
Hospital were also parties in the case.
The inquiry began more than two years ago and the evidence was heard over 40
days. Dr Woods, who had a busy practice in Ballsbridge, is now retired from
medicine and lives in Italy where she runs a bed and breakfast.
The children are now aged between 17 and 24 and many of them were present last
night. Dr Woods, who has strongly defended herself against the allegations, has
leave to appeal the finding and the sanction to the High Court.