"It's a very serious situation still with the U.N. in Algiers, " he said.

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The health secretary said he did not want to make a judgement about Mr Walker's claims but there were "a lot of very serious allegations that we need to get to the bottom of".

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"We look forward to continuing to work with the minister's officials in the development of a long-term strategy to tackle this very serious problem, " he said.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Northern Ireland | Health staff attacks 'unacceptable'