Parents who gave their children bleach in the belief that it could cure them of autism are being questioned by garda.
A number of people who have children with autism have been interviewed by detectives as part of a joint investigation by garda and the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) into the use of a controversial treatment being promoted in Ireland by an international cult.
The substance, known as Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS), is an industrial-strength bleach which its advocates claim acts as a miracle cure for a number of medical conditions, including autism, asthma, Aids, malaria and ebola.
Fiona OLeary, an Irish woman who has single-handedly mounted a campaign against a group led by Jim Humble a former Scientologist and self-styled archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing said there is need for urgent legislation in Ireland to deter parents from subjecting their children to treatment with MMS.
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A dentist and two nurses based in the west of Ireland are among a group of individuals who have also been questioned by garda about the sale of the product.
Ms OLeary believes it is unlikely that any parents will face criminal prosecution as a result of the Garda investigation, but says some sanction needs to be put in place to prevent vulnerable children being forced to take bleach, either orally or as an enema.
We really need laws to ban such dangerous and unlicensed treatments, as there are too many loopholes to prevent people who want MMS from getting the materials to make it themselves, said Ms OLeary, a mother of two autistic children.
People are playing Russia roulette with their kids who are being used as guinea pigs for experimentation and theres no legislation to stop this.
The need for such legislation, argues Ms OLeary, is because MMS promoters have been able to circumvent regulations governing the sale and supply of medicines by describing the product, whose constituent ingredients are perfectly legal, as a water purifier.