Gardaí are examining if they can take a reckless endangerment case against HSE employees over alleged foster care home abuse.
It comes after a whistleblower alleged a person with severe disabilities suffered sexual abuse in a foster care home in the south-east.
It is claimed the person remained in the home for 13 years after all other minors were removed and a warning was issued from authorities in the UK.
In a statement, the whistleblower claims the motive of the HSE Local Health Office was not in dealing with these issues - but rather a desire not to expose their failings from the past 20 years.
CEO of Barnardos, Fergus Finlay says the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar has to intervene.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Finaly said, "in my view this is something the Minister for Health has to personally take charge of.
"He has to find out what happened, why it happened - and he has to tell us what happened and why it happened," he added.
He also observed that "what appears to have happened in this case is almost unimaginable in terms of the destruction of a life, and the degradation of a life".
