Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has reiterated that An Grianán “served a different purpose” to High Park Magdalene laundry — despite HSE evidence stating they were “one and the same thing”.

The HSE took 10 months to repair a boy’s walking frame while some children in care could not be reunited with their families because local authorities failed to provide suitable housing.

Children have acted as interpreters to help parents understand meetings with social workers because of a shortage of official staff.

THE HSE has ordered an investigation into how social services failed to intervene in what a judge described as the “torture” of eight children by their mother over seven years.

THE country’s child welfare system is in dire need of an overhaul, Barnardos said yesterday on the back of new information regarding injuries sustained by children in care.