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Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald today apologised to the families of two children who were removed from their families by Gardai.

The Minister said:

The State is sorry. We regret the pain that they went through. It should not have happened. It just should not. It happened out of a determination to protect children, but that determination got skewed. The best of intentions played out in a distressing manner affecting two children and two families, as highlighted in the report I am publishing today.

The Minister was launching the Report of the Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the removal of the two children from their families.

The Minister added that:

This Report gives a comprehensive picture of the events which led to An Garda Síochána taking the actions they did and makes some important recommendations which will guard against similar situations arising in the future.

It finds that An Garda Síochána failed to critically evaluate the information provided to them about the children and families in question; and that more extensive and discreet inquiries should have been carried out prior to calling on the family homes and removing the children.

The Report makes a finding that the fact the families concerned were members of the Roma Community played a part in the decision-making process. The Report found that the members of An Garda Síochána concerned believed they were acting in the best interests of the children but that the Gardaí involved did not receive specific training in relation to the Roma community. However the Report also found no evidence of ‘ethnic profiling’ at an organisational level in An Garda Síochána.Minister Fitzgerald today met with both families.

The Minister confirmed that the Acting Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan had also today met with and apologised to the Families for the role played by An Garda Síochána in these events.

The Minister stated:

Meeting with the families was the first thing I wanted to do today. To meet the two families who briefly lost their children and – in private and in public – apologise to them.