Fifteen experts from the fields of probation, child care, social work, justice and psychiatry will participate in a HSE review into the deaths of children in State care.
The panel will be independently chaired by Dr Helen Buckley, a senior lecturer in Trinity College Dublin and an expert in child protection issues.
The deputy chairman will be Bill Lockhart, the outgoing chief executive of the Youth Justice Agency in Northern Ireland.
A meeting of the Review Panel will be convened shortly so that the group can commence its work as soon as possible.
The HSE also confirmed yesterday that a separate review team, drawn from the panel, will be established to review the Daniel McAnaspie case in accordance with the recently published HIQA Guidance for the HSE which addresses serious incidents including the deaths of children in the care of the State.
The body of Daniel McAnaspie (17) was discovered in a field at Rathfeigh Co. Meath last week. He had gone missing from a HSE care facility in Donabate last February.
It will fully investigate the care provided to Daniel McAnaspie and the circumstances leading up to his disappearance and death.
The HSE says any concerns raised by family members, and other relevant parties, will be addressed in the course of the review.
It will report to the Health Information and Quality Authority in an attempt to create a standardised and systematic way of completing reviews of serious incidents including deaths of children in care.
In a statement issued last night, Phil Garland, Assistant National Director for Children and Families, HSE said: “Implementation of the Guidance will ensure greater transparency in this process. Giving effect to the HIQA guidance the HSE’s current national review process has been strengthened with the appointment of a National
Review Team to include an independent chair and panel members with requisite skills and experience.”
Under the Guidance all deaths of children in care or children known to the child protection system and serious incidents in childcare services will be notified to the Social Services Inspectorate within 48 hours.