Former colleagues of Dr Niall McElwee have called for the inquiry into his behaviour to include his time at Waterford Institute of Technology.
Dr McElwee, the former director of Athlone Institute of Technology's Centre for Child and Youth Care Learning, resigned two weeks ago after admitting he had been convicted of indecent assault on teenage girls in the Netherlands.
The HSE has appointed Conal Devine to investigate the circumstances into how Dr McElwee managed to keep his job in AIT even though both the Midlands Health Board and the Garda Síochána knew about the incident. The terms of reference are expected to be made available this morning.
Several former and current lecturers at WIT who contacted The Irish Times said Dr McElwee's behaviour there raised serious questions about how he ended up being appointed to a senior position in AIT in 2001. A copy of a letter originally sent to the then minister for education Micheál Martin by three former academics at WIT has already been sent to Mr Devine.
The letter, written in January 2000 to Mr Martin, raised concerns about Dr McElwee's behaviour in showing slides of children who had been abused as lecture material for students, his attitude towards fellow lecturers and his promotion.
Dr Anne Byrne-Lynch, one of the signatories, said: "We called for an inquiry then. Either it should be included in the terms of reference or the Department of Education should have a separate inquiry. The system clearly fell down."
Alice McDermott, who has been a lecturer at WIT for 22 years, said there were "red flags" as to Dr McElwee's behaviour which should have precluded him from his appointment in Athlone. "I went to the head of department about his behaviour, but I should have taken it further," she said.
"Questions need to be answered as to the extent of the investigation into his behaviour in Waterford and what reference he got that allowed him to take up the job in Athlone."
Dr Frances Finnegan, who is retiring as a lecturer after 27 years in WIT, said her life had been made "very difficult" when she originated the complaint in May 1998 about Dr McElwee's use of graphic images of abused children. She said some students who had seen the material had counselling as a result.
"My concerns about Dr McElwee haven't been done in retrospect. What happened in Waterford was really odd. When he was showing those slides in Waterford, if it had been dealt with properly then, perhaps he probably would not have carried on," she said.
"We need to know if Athlone knew about these slides or if they didn't why weren't they told by WIT, especially given that he was appointed to a position of special sensitivity," she said.
WIT has defended its actions, saying they had asked him to stop using the slides in 1999 following the complaints. In a statement earlier this week, WIT said the institute "acted promptly and judiciously in order to discharge its responsibilities and obligations".
