Child protection issues - Continually letting the young down
This issue has been at the heart of some of the biggest scandals that have rocked this country in the last three-quarters of the century.
The controversial Mother and Child Bill in the 1950s, was designed to tackle the country’s high infant mortality rate — at the time, the highest in Western Europe.
In hindsight, it seems absurd that we could have got into such a political muddle with the Catholic hierarchy over trying to tackle this issue. In time our infant mortality has been largely redressed, and it was significant in the past week that expectant mothers were being transferred from Royal Maternity Hospital in Belfast to hospital in Dublin to avoid the danger of infection.
While it would seem that this country has made great strides in the area of infant care, the same cannot be said about the protection of older children.
For decades our authorities lacked the courage and the integrity to tackle the issue of child abuse, especially clerical paedophile abuse.
Although the government of Albert Reynolds was brought down over its handling of the clerical paedophile issue in 1994, we have had a whole series of scandals since then, involving various governments as well as the Catholic hierarchy.
Of course, there are different aspects to child protection. The Children’s Right Alliance (CRA) — which is made up of more than 90 voluntary and charitable organisations — is due to publish its first annual report today. It is expected to say the current coalition’s performance is an improvement on the performance of its predecessors, especially with the establishment of a dedicated Department of Children and Youth Affairs.
Nevertheless this government — like the successive governments before it — has failed dismally to protect children’s health and welfare rights in some ways. The CRA raises serious concerns about the continued detention of children, ten years after legislation deemed the practice unacceptable.
Boys of 16 and 17 are still being detained in St Patrick’s Institution in conditions reminiscent of the Victorian era. A previous government made plans to build a modern detention school, and €70,000 was spent on the constructions of gates to the earmarked site. No money has been allocated for the remainder of the project. The school remains little more than a dream, its gates standing as a monument to bureaucratic bungling.
Nobody should be surprised at the high rates of recidivism within our youth correctional institutions. The regime is being run on a punitive basis, rather than seeking rehabilitation.
Mixing impressionably young offenders in some areas with older criminals is a recipe for breeding crime. This issue ought to be tackled without further delay.
