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Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman said that he would be willing to go before an Oireachtas Committee to discuss the disappearance of Kyran Durnin if he was asked to do so.
An ongoing Garda investigation into the whereabouts of 8-year-old Kyran Durnin is ongoing, with the young boy being missing for several years unbeknownst to authorities, despite Tusla engaging with the child’s family previously. He is now presumed dead.
Earlier this week, Aontú Leader Peadar Toibín TD insisted that representatives of Tusla and Minister O’Gorman should go before a Joint Oireachtas Committee to explain the State’s child protection failures in this case.
Asked if he would be open to heeding Toibín’s call, O’Gorman said he would, and that he has “always been very accountable” when it comes to such issues.
“I’ve always attended meetings of the Joint Oireachtas Committee when I’ve been invited – I’ve had a really good working relationship with them over the last four and a half years,” he said.
“I’ve always been very accountable in terms of the work my Department does. I’ve just done an hour and a half of Dáil questions on issues, including issues relating to child protection, in the Dáil this morning. Deputy Toibín wasn’t there for that, but that’s his business.”
O’Gorman described the Kyran case as “absolutely shocking”, saying: “We have good child protection legislation in this country, but it’s clear that something went wrong here.”
He added: “And that’s why it’s so important to determine exactly what went wrong. There are a number of Sate agencies involved in this particular issue.”
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