Garda have launched a probe into the discovery of numerous highly sensitive files in an unlocked shed on the grounds of a psychiatric hospital in Kilkenny.
It is understood that the files contain allegations of child abuse, along with reports of assaults on HSE workers.
The documents came to light after a member of the public stumbled across them in the Kilkenny hospital, and then alerted local Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness.
"A concerned citizen drew my attention to the issue of the files being stored there. At first, I didn't believe it was the case, but it was impressed on me that it was, so I went to see," said McGuinness in a Sunday Independent report.
"I was shocked to see the doors were unlocked, there was no security," he continued.
Mr McGuinness claims that the files contain reports on legal cases taken by the HSE or against the HSE, while there were also documents containing information about sex abuse in the area. The HSE have claimed that there was a recent incident of vandalism at the hospital, which would explain why the door of the shed was left unlocked, though the Kilkenny/Carlow TD refuted those claims, saying no incidents of vandalism had taken place.
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