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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.