THE REPORT of an inquiry into the deaths of a family of four whose bodies were found in their house in Monageer, Co Wexford, has been delayed for two months due to concerns over libel and defamation.
Adrian Dunne (29), his wife Ciara (24) and their two children, five-year-old Leanne and three-year-old Shania, were found dead last April, three days after the family visited an undertaker to arrange how the couple and their children were to be buried.
It later emerged that the authorities had been made aware of a risk to the safety of the children.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Children Barry Andrews said the chairwoman of the inquiry has asked a senior counsel to examine the report with reference to potential issues regarding the good name of people mentioned.
Meanwhile, over the next week or so, certain elements of the report will be sent to the families involved.
The inquiry is likely to make recommendations regarding the non-operation of childcare services during out-of-work hours.
It is understood that the Health Service Executive was alerted about the Dunne case almost 24 hours after concerns were first reported to gardaí.
A senior HSE official checked up on the family and found there was no record of the children being at risk.
In the absence of an out-of-hours social work service over the weekend, the official reminded gardaí that the service's options were to remove the children and bring them to hospital, or contact the Caredoc service for medical emergencies.
The inquiry may also focus on whether authorities have sufficient legal powers to intervene in such cases.
The Childcare Act (1991) gives the Garda and the HSE substantial powers to intervene to safeguard the welfare of children, with section 12 permitting officers to enter any house without a warrant to remove a child from danger.
However, it is a power rarely used without background information being supplied by social workers.
The inquiry, which took place at an undisclosed location in Dublin and was closed to the public, began work last January to establish the circumstances surrounding the deaths, to document the involvement of State services and to look into how the various bodies co-operated with each other.
Under its terms of reference, the inquiry team is also instructed to make recommendations to the Minister for Health and Children and the Minister for Justice as to how such an event may, as far as possible, be avoided in future.
Chaired by barrister Kate Brosnan, the inquiry's members include retired assistant Garda commissioner Jim McHugh and Leonie Lunny, chief executive of the Citizens Information Board.
They were appointed in June of last year but it was decided to delay their work until the Garda report into the tragedy had been completed.
This was received by Minister for Children Brendan Smith last November.
