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	Angry parents may also sue HSE over &#39;Prime Time&#39; special</p>
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		PARENTS of at least 20 children embroiled in the RTE creche expose are poised to sue the companies involved for alleged assault.</h2>
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		<a href="http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Irish_Independent" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em; color: rgb(92, 139, 63); margin-bottom: 0px !important;">The Irish Independent</a>&nbsp;has learned that the parents of children allegedly mistreated in three creches highlighted in an RTE &#39;Prime Time&#39; investigation have instructed lawyers to sue the companies that own them.</p>
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		The HSE, which is responsible for the regulation and inspection of creches, may also be sued amid concerns by some of the parents that it failed to take action against the creches after it had been notified about RTE&#39;s footage.</p>
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		The childcare facilities involved are the Links creche in Malahide, north Dublin; the Giraffe creche in Belarmine, Stepaside, Co Dublin; and Little Harvard creche in Rathnew, Co Wicklow. &#39;A Breach of Trust&#39;, which aired last May, showed certain staff members in some of the creches handling children aggressively and shouting at them.</p>
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		The programme raised questions about the capacity of the HSE to regulate and inspect the lucrative private childcare market.</p>
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		A criminal investigation by gardai is also under way after complaints by parents of children at the creches.</p>
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		The children will now sue, through their parents, for alleged assault.</p>
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		The parents will separately seek compensation for alleged breach of contract and distress as well as seeking a refund of any fees paid to the creches.</p>
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		Solicitor Kathrin Coleman, who represents many of the families affected by the abuses brought to light by the &#39;Prime Time&#39; programme, said parents had come together in the wake of the broadcast to pursue their options.</p>
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		&quot;Clearly, the images shown on national television were deeply disturbing to our clients, as they would be to any parent of a child that had been entrusted to others whilst they went about their working lives,&quot; said Ms Coleman, a senior associate solicitor at Dublin law firm Lavelle Coleman.</p>
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		&quot;The issue of the action or inaction of the HSE in relation to matters that they were aware of is of considerable concern to our clients and we are currently investigating these matters on their behalf.</p>
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		&quot;It is not appropriate to comment further on this matter, at this point.&quot;</p>
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		The expose involved researchers, who were employed as childcare staff, secretly recording footage at the three creches, which in the past had been found to have broken HSE childcare regulations.</p>
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			Earlier this week it emerged that one of the creches at the centre of the expose had hired a retired senior garda as its child protection officer.</p>
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			Ex-superintendent John McCann was the head of the&nbsp;<a href="http://searchtopics.independent.ie/topic/Garda_Siochana" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em; color: rgb(92, 139, 63); margin-bottom: 0px !important;">Garda</a>&#39;s Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Investigation Unit.</p>
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			Mr McCann has been hired by the Little Harvard Creche and Montessori, which runs five creches in Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare.</p>
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			A separate probe was launched into the Giraffe facility at Belarmine after two toddlers wandered out of the creche earlier this month.</p>
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			The two children left the premises by themselves during a visit by an animal handler who had brought a visiting farm to the creche.</p>
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			Meanwhile, RTE has robustly defended the manner in which it handled complaints involving the creches.</p>
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			A letter was written last June by David Nally, managing editor of RTE Current Affairs to Labour TD Ciara Conway, Vice-Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children.</p>
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			<strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 1em;">SURPRISED</strong></p>
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			Mr Nally said that RTE was &quot;very surprised&quot; to learn that Gordon Jeyes &ndash; the HSE&#39;s National Director for Children and Family Services &ndash; told the Oireachtas Committee that the RTE researchers made no reports to the HSE regarding the poor practices and standards of care they witnessed.</p>
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			&quot;This is emphatically not the case,&quot; said Mr Nally.</p>
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			RTE said that from the very outset of this investigation, it had worked closely with a childcare expert who advised the production team at every stage of the process on all matters including its reporting responsibilities.</p>
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			It added: &quot;In all cases the RTE Investigations Unit&#39;s researchers made detailed complaints firstly to the management of the individual creches, who of course have a responsibility themselves to inform the HSE &ndash; and then directly and in writing to the HSE.&quot;</p>
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			<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/creches-in-rte-probe-to-face-legal-action-from-20-families-29482708.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/creches-in-rte-probe-to-face-legal-action-from-20-families-29482708.html</a></div>
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