Call for all foster carers to be vetted
The call came after the Irish Examiner revealed that some foster children are being placed with guardians with criminal records and alcohol and drug problems.
It then emerged yesterday that a man charged with possessing drugs worth €830,000 is a foster parent.
The IFCA said it was concerned at the revelations, but claimed the problem was not a new one.
Diarmuid Kearney, head of service, said: “We have known for some time that many carers have not been subject to adequate checks and that large numbers have never been trained. This has posed a risk to the safety of children and recent proceedings in the High Court have established that the risk is in fact a reality.”
He said 15% of carers had not been approved by foster care panels and that the health watchdog Hiqa had highlighted shortcomings in the system.
“There is no excuse for not carrying out full assessments of potential carers and the HSE’s assertion that timescales on occasions ‘do not provide time for full clearance in advance of placement’ does not stand up,” said Mr Kearney.
“It should, in these circumstances, be possible to place children on a temporary basis with fully-vetted and trained carers.”
He said many of the unassessed carers are relatives of the children and are “less than adequately supported by the HSE”.
He said while this was not a recent phenomenon, it was an “appalling risk” that needed to be tackled.
Latest figures from the Garda National Vetting Unit shows that while 80% of all applications are processed within an average of seven weeks, in 20% of cases it takes longer than that.
In 2011, some 315,100 applications were received and so far this year, the unit has received 171,600. About 40,000 await processing.
Responding to questions over staffing at the unit, a Garda spokesman said: “The number of permanent staff currently allocated to this section is 94. Of this number, 15 clerical officers were redeployed from the Department of Agriculture in mid-May 2012 and have been undergoing Garda vetting training since then. This training is scheduled to be fully completed by mid-Aug 2012.”
