Niall McElwee has provided his first comment to this blog in response to the Devine report released yesterday. He said he would comment here publicly and he has done so.

MP. Thank you for facilitating me with the opportunity to reply. As the Report has just been published and I did not get sight of it until yesterday evening, all I will say at this stage is the following:

(1) I deeply regret the incident in Amsterdam in 2004 and lament the catastrophic effect it has had since. I am so sorry that my family has been embarrassed for my actions which I take responsibility for. Nonetheless, I have found the sensationalist and inaccurate reporting of my case quite extraordinary and have seen a number of agendas played out in the media with various persons and organisations.

(2) It is a matter of fact that I called both the Gardai and a senior HSE official immediately on my release from custody in June 2004. In doing this, I tried to show some level of responsibility.

(3) It is a fact that on my return to Ireland in June 2004, I met with the HSE senior official at HSE Offices and was informed at this meeting that the HSE was following protocal. This was noted in my diary and submitted to the Inquiry. I understood that the reason I continued to receive work from the HSE in the period 2004-2007 at both my position in Athlone Institute of Technology and in my private practice was because the HSE had undertaken whatever risk assessment necessary and deemed me not to be a cause for any further concern. The first I was made aware that this was not the case was in July 2007 with media reports of my case.

(4) It is obvious from even a cursory reading of the report that the HSE officials are busy blaming each other for the information loss. This is not my fault.