allegations of child abuse in Bermuda day nurseries.

Health Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward was "irresponsible'' if he was aware of ongoing physical abuse in day nurseries but had not reported it to someone in authority for "five to six years.'' Mr. Hayward, who Mr. Edness had challenged through the Press to identify where the abuse was occurring so it could be investigated, rose on the motion to adjourn amid heckling to attack existing regulations as "woefully inadequate'' to protect children.

He did not identify the "one or two'' day nurseries where he said on Friday he knew physical abuse was occurring. Instead, he accused Mr. Edness of discouraging the reporting of abuse by "personalising'' the issue.

"When a community leader does speak up for the children, what they get from the Minister is rejection, and articles in the newspaper trying to deal with personal issues rather than child abuse,'' he said. "It's no wonder they don't speak out.'' In his response, Mr. Edness said Mr. Hayward's "tirade'' missed the central point. "The honourable member on Friday night said that he knew of child abuse taking place,'' Mr. Edness said. "I've simply asked him to report it to the authorities.'' The Speaker of the House, the Hon. David Wilkinson interjected when Mr.

Hayward began his remarks by referring to a speech Child Development Project director Ms Conchita Ming delivered to the Symposium of Children at Risk last September.

"You said you had brought (the abuse) to the attention of the Minister and the Permanent Secretary,'' Mr. Wilkinson told Mr. Hayward. "Why don't we get to that?'' Mr. Edness said on Sunday that neither he, the former Health Minister, nor the two previous Permanent Secretaries of the Ministry could recall Mr. Hayward making such a report.

"I think I was a bit exuberant in saying I reported to this particular Minister, or his predecessor,'' Mr. Hayward told the House. He maintained he did tell former Permanent Secretary Mr. David Critchley. But having spoken to Mr. Critchley by telephone on the weekend, "he didn't recall (the conversation), and I have to accept that,'' he said.

Mr. Hayward said Mr. Edness would soon be hearing from parents about physical abuse in day nurseries, and "in his own Ministry he has already been presented evidence of abuse in day care''.

"The Minister in asking for proof doesn't need to ask Stuart Hayward,'' he said.

Asked outside the House why he did not provide information on the day nurseries to Mr. Edness, Mr. Hayward said he would prefer that the parents of the affected children do so.

In her speech, Ms Ming said a committee found day nursery regulations to be "woefully inadequate'' in 1983, and they had still not been revised in 1992, Mr. Hayward said.

Nurseries with fewer than five children do not have to be licensed, and some care providers keep more than five children but are unaware they are supposed to have a licence, he said.

The Police and the Social Services Department lack the expertise required to investigate and prosecute child abuse cases, and "that may be the reason the Police have not dealt with the case that is making headlines in the newspaper these days,'' Mr. Hayward told the House.

Mr. Edness said Mr. Hayward "has gone through a whole tirade here this evening trying to justify the fact that he made these allegations, and all I've asked him to do is to tell us where it's taking place.'' Even if Mr. Hayward did report abuse to Mr. Critchley five or six years ago, which Mr. Critchley denies, "if he hasn't reported it to anyone since that time then he can only be classified as irresponsible,'' Mr. Edness said.

Improved regulations are being worked on, he said.