The Health and Safety Authority appears to have backed down from a commitment to meet the family of murdered trainee hotel manager Gráinne Dillon to discuss the possibility of investigating the workplace conditions at the time of her death.
Her sister, Ms Cliona Dillon, said the authority had agreed to meet the family following Monday's trial at the Central Criminal Court, at which Portuguese national Paulo Nascimento was jailed for life for the killing.
However, a spokesman for the authority said yesterday it was "more than likely" it would communicate its decision on whether to investigate "in writing".
On Tuesday, the same spokesman said: "We want to talk to the family before making any public statement. We will talk to them first." Yesterday he remarked this was said in error.
The Dillon family want the authority to investigate the health and safety conditions at Jury's Inn Hotel in Limerick, where the murder took place, with a view to a possible prosecution under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989.
Ms Dillon (24), from Glounthaune, Cork, and Nascimento were the only people on duty at the hotel at the time of the attack in January 2002 although almost 300 guests were staying overnight.
Ms Cliona Dillon said the incident might have been prevented had there been adequate staffing levels and training at the hotel.
"The HSA is trying to wriggle out of any responsibility by saying it doesn't investigate pre-meditated crime, but we never asked them to do so. We want them to investigate the health and safety issues surrounding the incident and there is nothing in the Act to prevent them from doing so."
She said the authority had been "extremely hostile" to the family's concerns and had only agreed to meet them last Monday week "reluctantly and after we had spent 13 months chasing them".
It had also refused a Freedom of Information request from the family for access to details of a safety inspection of the Limerick hotel, which was carried out a number of months after the murder.
"They said they would meet us in a week or two but I don't believe it will happen. I am sure they are just hoping the publicity will die down by then," Ms Dillon added.
Her sister, Ms Aoife Dillon, said the family did not wish to take a civil case against the Jury's Doyle Hotel Group. "The HSA has a remit in this area," she added. "Health and safety includes preventing violence in the workplace and the ultimate act of violence is murder."
The hotel group declined to address the details of the Dillons' allegations, other than saying it "attaches the highest priority to the safety of all our staff and guests. We are never complacent about their safety and keep our procedures under constant review". It is understood the company has increased security at its Limerick hotel since the murder.
