Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs has welcomed the appointment of a Chair of the inquiry into allegations of sexual abuse of children and young people in Northern Ireland but expressed his concern that the Education Training Inspectorate is not yet signed up.
Mr Beggs, who sits on the Stormont Health committee, said;
“The Ulster Unionist Party welcomes the appointment of Professor Kathleen Marshall to lead an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Northern Ireland.
In September the Health Minister Edwin Poots announced that he would set up an independent expert-led inquiry to investigate child sexual exploitation.
This should have involved the Health Inspectorate, Criminal Justice Inspectorate and the Education Training Inspectorate given their roles in protecting children.
I was very disappointed to hear during the course of Edwin Poots` announcement yesterday that the Education Training Inspectorate still weren`t signed up. Given the importance of this inquiry it is vital that every relevant part is fulfilling its role. I hope that the increasingly poisonous and dysfunctional relationship between Sinn Fein and the DUP isn`t spilling over into how this inquiry is being handled.
We simply cannot afford to endanger children by continued exposure to sexual abuse.”
ENDS
