Special Adviser on Children's Affairs, Verna St Rose Greaves, is calling on Minister of the People and Social Development, Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, to revisit the probe into the St Mary's Children's Home.

In a telephone interview yesterday, St Rose Greaves said, from all reports she has received, there is need for a longer investigation into the home.

"Children at the home need to be interviewed differently. Seven days was not enough for the investigation. Whatever is done following this probe is to be done in the best interest of the children. The children are the important factor here," St Rose Greaves said.

She was commenting on statements made by Ramadharsingh earlier this week, that a committee probing reports of physical, sexual and mental abuse at the home, found nothing substantive to support the allegations.

The former chaplain of the home, Easlyn Orr, who made the allegations, has stood by her claims, saying she witnessed them herself.

Yesterday, St Rose Greaves said the Government must ensure abuse at the orphanages does not reoccur. She said while the allegations are all out in the open, the adults involved must "put pride aside, stop being defensive and ensure each child is helped".

"Former chaplain Easlyn Orr was right to speak out. In the same breath, Minister Ramadharsingh must be commended for his quick action, and the probe done. However, things must not end here, more attention must be placed into the terms of reference of the investigation, the process and the future response," she said.

She admitted she was concerned over reports that some members of the investigation team were closely attached to the board of the St Mary's home.

"Transparency is necessary. While I am not pointing any fingers, there should have been more independence in the persons chosen to investigate the home. Persons who were not attached in any way to the home should have been chosen, since people can be intimidated by them when the investigation was ongoing," she said.

St Rose Greaves said different persons should be called to investigate the home again, but this time it should be carried out in such a way that the children are not traumatised further.

"The home needs to be looked at again and the protection of these children enlisted at the home should be top priority. In order to get maximum results, there needs to be a different approach," St Rose Greaves said.

While Ramadharsingh said one of the recommendations made by the committee was for permanent monitoring of homes across the country, St Rose Greaves said permanent monitoring, if not done in the proper way, can disturb the daily activities of children.

"The power of staff members of the home should not be abused or misused. Accusations at this point should not be taken personally but the way forward is necessary."

During a press conference earlier this week, in response to questions as to whether he was satisfied at the way the probe was conducted, Ramadharsingh said, "If you picked up ... in the mandate of the committee. We did not want to waste resources like this, to just investigate an allegation that was made. They went with a view to develop a monitoring programme, a policy for all homes in Trinidad and Tobago. And the committee that we set up... although we put in the requisite resources—the police, the Children's Authority—they did not have the time to really collect or probe into evidence that we needed to establish that these allegations occurred."

He added, "Off-site interviews with two former residents supported some of the allegations. However, the committee was unable to validate these allegations due to time constraints. Their (former residents') statements were contrary to those made by the staff and the children of the home."

In a release yesterday, the ministry said it had agreed to appoint monitoring officers for homes across the country based on recommendations of the investigating team. The team also suggested that qualified staff be hired at homes.