Without warning on 5 March, gardaí took the five children of Padraig and Mary O'Hara into care on foot of a court order obtained by the HSE in the Kells area. Of the children, four are autistic and their separation from their parents and a well established routine was traumatic. The parents were required to submit to psychiatric examination despite the possession by officials of a clinical psychology report testifying to their good parenting and character. Since four of their children were diagnosed with autism four years ago, the O'Haras have been engaged in a struggle for basic services with the HSE, which threatened reprisals if the parents went public about their difficulties. More than seven weeks after the court ordered the immediate return of the children to their parents, no official at any level of the HSE has lifted a telephone to call the O'Haras, whose children had supposedly been at risk.

Why was this family treated brutally through an act of bureaucratic vindictiveness? This was a grossly excessive abuse of authority. The O'Haras are not alone in the treatment they have received from persons acting in the name of the HSE. Does the Taoiseach agree that an investigation by a competent person into the HSE's handling of the case is necessary? Will the Taoiseach provide an assurance that no further threat will hang over the family in the absence of any allegation of wrongdoing on their part? I stress that the O'Haras have been commended on their diligence and care of their children as the clinical psychology report testifies.

As Deputy Rabbitte will appreciate, I have not followed the case in the last few weeks. I accept the Deputy's statement that no one has called on them and will request that the matter is examined. I recall the matter and have the note I used to inform the House earlier last month of what the family's needs were. I recall also why the issue arose and the children were taken from the family. I do not wish to get into saying anything unhelpful about the family or the staff involved. The staff had consulted at some length and had to take into account the threats that were made on the lives of the children, which were something they could not ignore. Qualified staff made their decision on the basis that it was a matter which could not be overlooked. I am not in a position to overlook the matter either. They acted and after the subsequent case the children were released. I am sure the staff acted on the basis of their professional knowledge. They were not inexperienced.

Deputy Rabbitte has asked me to discover why, if these issues were so important then, nothing has happened since. From the State's point of view, there was a recognition of the unique needs of the family, which was under pressure. I recall the matter well and have every reason to understand the pressure the family faced in the circumstances. My Cabinet colleague, Deputy Noel Dempsey, who is very familiar with the case and had been dealing with it, outlined the circumstances to me at the time. I do not wish to go through them all but the State provided many different services to the family in various ways and also gave a statutory payment to the family. As I understand it, the Deputy's question is whether I will ask that this matter be examined by a competent person and I will certainly take that up.

I do not expect the Taoiseach to recall the detail of this case. I wrote to the Tánaiste about it on 24 March asking her to investigate the policies, procedures and practices of the Health Service Executive in this area. I appreciate that the Tánaiste has other pressures on her. I know that, like me, she met the O'Hara family recently. However, the Taoiseach has missed the point if he believes that the actions of the HSE personnel were caused by threats made to them or that the children were at risk. There is no evidence to bear that out and the judge made that clear. Furthermore, this is not the only family that has been treated in this fashion. The Taoiseach has missed the basis of the point I raised, which was that it was a gross abuse of authority and an act of vindictiveness by personnel employed by the Health Services Executive in that particular area. When they were negotiating for a care package, it was not forthcoming. How is it that if the family concerned was deemed to be at sufficient risk to be taken into care, in the seven weeks that have transpired since the court caused them to be returned to their parents, nobody in the HSE has even made a telephone call to know how they are? The Taoiseach is seriously misinformed if he believes that there is justification, despite the judgment of the court in this matter.

As Deputy Rabbitte knows, the point I made concerned why the team acted as it did in the first place, not after the court case. According to my note, the provision of the multidisciplinary team service together with all the other service elements is dependent on the service of a case manager to co-ordinate and complete service delivery. An experienced case manager was employed in early 2005 to undertake this work.

Have they moved since?

However, as a result of verbal abuse received by telephone from Ms O'Hara, the case manager resigned. Following his resignation, Ms O'Hara visited his house and was asked to leave by the case manager's spouse. However, Ms O'Hara returned and this violation of privacy has had a further distressing impact on the staff member whose family and home have now been inappropriately involved in the service issue.

The Meath disability service awaits proposals from Enable Ireland in respect of the case management function together with the multidisciplinary team interventions, but recent communications from the family indicate they do not consider Enable Ireland to be appropriate providers of the case management function.

That is not actually the truth.

Please allow the Taoiseach to continue.

It is not on.

My note also goes into all the family's needs. The case has been in court but the point I made was that when the people acted in the first instance, before the court case——

That is what the court adjudicated on.

Yes but why does the Deputy say that the staff were vindictive when they were acting? I do not know if they were or not, but they were professional staff.

The court has decided.

Deputy Rabbitte should allow the Taoiseach to conclude.

The court decided professional staff were doing what they thought they should do in the first case. Does that mean that these people should never take action in any case?

They have not taken any action since.

Deputy Rabbitte should allow the Taoiseach to conclude.

They formed a judgment and it went to court, although fortunately not every case ends up in court. They had put in place a range of services for family needs. The case was in court. As Deputy Rabbitte said, the Tánaiste has met the family and I know that the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has also met them. Deputy Rabbitte asked me whether a competent person would examine the case and he also asked why nobody had called to the family since. I cannot answer the latter question but I have the list of all the needs that have been put in place, although I do not think it is necessary to put the personal details of a case on the record. I will inquire as to why nobody has called but these needs were put in place and they went through a fairly detailed report.

Will the Taoiseach investigate this matter?

I will ask a competent person to do so.

I thank the Taoiseach.